CHENNAI: In a bid to reduce the spread of rabies and improve animal population control measures, the corporation has proposed to establish new animal birth control centres and procure mobile veterinary vaccination vehicles. These were part of the announcements made in the budget on Wednesday.
In 2023, the corporation vaccinated and sterilised 19,640 and 14,855 stray dogs respectively. The corporation has decided to procure seven new dog catching vehicles at a cost of Rs 70 lakh and three mobile veterinary vaccination vehicles at a cost of Rs 60 lakh. The vaccination vehicles will be deployed one for each region.
The corporation currently runs five ABC centres — Pulianthope, Lloyds Colony, Kannamapettai, Meenambakkam and Sholinganallur. The civic body will build two more ABCs at Rs 2.5 crore.
A new cow shed is to come up in southern Chennai, in addition to the ones in Pudupettai and Perambur, to impound seized stray cattle. The corporation is also set to hire 45 new temporary workers for the public health department to intensify seizure of stray cattle in all the zones.
To regulate cattle rearing in the city, the local body has also proposed to issue licences to cattle sheds run as per the norms.