Animal birth control programme stalled in Karimnagar

While complaints from animal lovers with animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi led to Gandhi speaking to the local police and the corporation putting the ABC programme on hold.

Karimnagar: Street dogs are turning out to be a major concern for the people of Karimnagar town, with an animal birth control programme initiated by the Municipal Corporation of Karimnagar being put on the back burner following an outcry from animal lovers in the town.

While complaints from animal lovers with animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi led to Gandhi speaking to the local police and the corporation putting the ABC programme on hold, there were objections from people living in the localities where the sterilisation surgeries were done, with many complaining about the nightlong wailing of the dogs that were in pain after the surgeries.

It was in 2020 that the Municipal Corporation invited tenders and handed over the sterilisation and vaccination responsibility to an agency, the Animal Welfare Society, which performed 2,013 surgeries. In July this year, the corporation again invited tenders. Out of three firms, the Animal Welfare Society once again bagged the contract. However, with the Society carrying out sterilisation procedures on 186 dogs as against the target of 2,000, the programme had to be put on hold following the complaints.

MCK officials said two dogs died due to post-operational health problems. Some animal lovers informed the matter to Maneka Gandhi, who spoke with local police officials, forcing the corporation to ‘temporarily’ put the operations on hold.

Though officials are said to have approached other organisations in Hyderabad to ensure the operations were done without complications, no organisation came forward to take up the task in Karimnagar, officials said.

The charges were Rs.1,650 per dog, with Rs.1,450 of this earmarked for the operation, medicines and food served during the four day rest period. The remaining Rs.200 was intended to pick up the dogs and drop them back in their localities after the operation.

The procedures were done in the ABC room in the veterinary hospital at Mukarampura. However, according to officials, even painkillers were administered after the operation, the dogs were barking and wailing in the night unable to tolerate the pain. Since the dogs were kept in the ABC room for three to four days after the operation, people in the surrounding localities started raising objections that they were unable to sleep in the night due to the continuous barking and wailing from the dogs.

Now, the corporation officials are contemplating an Animal Care Centre with modern facilities by spending Rs.2 crore. For this purpose, the district administration has already allocated one acre of land near Bommakal on the outskirts of the town.

According to MCK statistics, there are around 4,000 street dogs in the town.

Mayor Y Sunil Rao said the programme had to be put on hold following objections raised by the local people since the operation theatre and post-operative care centre were located in residential areas. Once this was sorted out, it was hoped that the programme would be revived.