THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The residents of Karumkulam panchayat have come out with a stiff protest against relocation of stray dogs from Thiruvananthapuram corporation limits to a private shelter operating within the panchayat.
The agitation by residents with the support of all political parties has entered its third day on Tuesday with local residents and the panchayat authorities demanding immediate intervention to stop dumping of the city’s stray dog burden into the densely populated rural neighbourhood, located 32km away from the capital city.
With protest brewing, the panchayat authorities have called for a meeting on Wednesday to initiate action.
Freeda Simon, district panchayat member, said Karumkulam is one of the most densely populated areas in the district and the shelter has turned into a huge inconvenience for the public.
“The shelter is operating without any license and registration from the panchayat. Around 200 dogs are housed at the shelter. Stray dogs are a huge challenge for every local body, but instead of finding suitable land and setting up shelters they are dumping the dogs in a heavily populated area. We want the corporation to take back the dogs and relocate them somewhere else,” she added.
However, the BJP-led council at the corporation claimed that the protest was politically motivated. Mayor V V Rajesh said that the shelter has been operating there for the past 8 years and there were no protests or complaints against the facility.
“They started a protest just because we shifted 50 dogs to that shelter. The corporation has no plans to move any more dogs to that shelter and we will not take back the sheltered dogs,” said the mayor.
Recently, the civic body has shifted 50 stray dogs caught from public places, including the medical college, general hospital, University College, national highways and Thampanoor and Kochuveli railway station premises, to the private shelter.
The plan is to invite proposals from private parties and NGOs who are willing to set up and operate shelters for stray dogs as per the norms mandated by the animal welfare board. Another 70 dogs, which were illegally sheltered at a house in Kattayikonam, were relocated by the corporation to the ABC centre at Thiruvallam.
An official with the corporation said that the Expression of Interest (EoI) will be opened within seven days. “We have already held meetings with all stakeholders and we hope we will get a good response to the EoI,” said the official.
The civic body is planning to relocate around 3,000 dogs from public places to shelters.