Neuter amid lockdown, best time to control stray dog population: Experts

With the dog breeding season around the corner, animal activists have called for neutering as many street dogs as possible to control their population, stating that

With the dog breeding season around the corner, animal activists have called for neutering as many street dogs as possible to control their population, stating that the lockdown was a favourable time to do so.

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Veterinarians and experts said the suggestion “may sound cruel” but it would ensure dogs are treated better. They said increased neutering activity was needed in the city which sees its fair share of complaints about dog bites and resulting cruelty towards the animal.

Neutering, a surgical procedure for removal of the reproductive organ of the animals, is a healthier and more humane way of animal birth control.

They added that if not neutered, the upcoming breeding season would leave streets with more animals to be fed with lesser food sources; this would lead to more territory fights and man-dog conflicts as well.

While most of the neutering or sterilisation units are shut due to the lockdown, a few such as People For Animals (PFA) had managed to neuter 20 dogs.

“Neutering is an ongoing process, but it has stopped at most places due to the lockdown. However, we have managed to somehow continue this work. This is the best time to do so because there are fewer people feeding them; on normal days it’s difficult to catch the dogs. They come to us more easily and it’s easier to catch them gently and sterilize or neuter them,” said Kaveri Rana, president of PFA, Gautam Budh Nagar.

She added that while dogs breed around the year, there are two major seasons depending on the age of the female—winters (December-January) and summers (June through August).

“Of the 20 dogs we neutered 17 were females and 3 were males. Nineteen were rescued after they were injured, while one was lost. Each one of them was capable of producing a litter of at least six pups, which means in next few months there could have been over 100 additional dogs on the streets if we had not sterilised them,” she said, adding that population control amid animals is also important to reduce dog bites as neutering reduces aggression.

Dr Krishna Yadav, a Noida based veterinarian whose clinic in Sector 122 is being approached by NGOs and activists for neutering rescued dogs, said, “It’s important to understand that we have to step up animal birth control especially now because breeding season is almost here and once the lockdown is over there will be issues like large number of road accidents, aggression and unhealthy dogs etc. and rising cases of man-dog conflicts. We have performed around 35 neutering surgeries since lockdown stated. A number of NGOs and animal activists bring rescued or abandoned dogs.”

Pointing out that both the Supreme Court and Wold Health Organisation (WHO) recommend neutering, experts said neutering stray dogs was as important as feeding them.

“The dog population rises exponentially, so say there are 6,000 dogs on street today; by the year end there would be over 8,000 even if we consider the highest mortality rates in the offspring. Neutering is an important task for better public health and animal welfare,” Dr Abhishek Dabar, official veterinarian at Noida authority’s animal shelter at Sector 94 which houses over 900 dogs, said, adding that though they have stopped neutering these days because of the lockdown, the process will be resumed after the lockdown.

But Sanjay Kumar Mahapatra, head of Noida-based NGO House of Stray Animals (HSA), said the activity must be resumed as soon as possible.

“Due to the lockdown, we have to cover as much area as possible to feed the dogs and we see a number of lactating females with as many as eight pups. Upcoming breeding season, they would breed again with a direct impact on their health and their offspring. Also, sustenance would be challenge; it happens all the time, and thus neutering is very much called for,” he said.