THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thiruvananthapuram corporation’s ambitious plan to relocate stray dogs from public places to private shelters — a key promise of the BJP-led council — has run into regulatory hurdles.
Despite bringing in private parties to run shelters and relocate nearly 3,000 stray dogs from high-footfall public spaces such as schools, railway stations, bus stations, and government establishments, the corporation is unable to take the plan forward because of the lack of a government-approved rate for housing stray dogs in private shelters.
However, with school reopening fast approaching, pressure is mounting from all quarters to relocate stray dogs from school premises and areas surrounding educational institutions.
In January, the city corporation shifted around 50 stray dogs captured from public places to a private shelter located in Poovar island.
But thereafter the project has come to a standstill despite many NGOs and private parties expressing interest in running shelters. To expedite the project, the civic body has approached a district-level committee chaired by the district collector to fix a formal rate, which is mandatory for the allocation of funds for project implementation.
While the corporation has set aside around Rs 50 lakh for stray dog management this financial year, the project remains stalled without a formally approved rate.
“Based on our assessment, the cost is estimated at around Rs 40 to Rs 50 per dog per day. But this is only a tentative figure. We need an officially approved rate before the project can move forward. This is the first time a local body is attempting to implement a shelter-based stray dog management plan and hence there needs to be a government order fixing the rates,” an official with Thiruvananthapuram corporation said.
The civic body sterilised around 195 stray dogs last month and vaccinated around 2,000 dogs in 22 wards recently, the official added.
Animal rights activists raise concern
There are challenges galore for the corporation as animal welfare activists have raised apprehensions over the plan and questioned the legality of relocating dogs to shelters without a licence from the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI).
“The estimate of `40 to `50 per dog a day is unrealistic. Feeding alone would cost more than that, without accounting for treatment, annual vaccination and other expenses,” said Sreedevi Kartha, a member of People for Animals (PFA).
“Dogs cannot be shifted to any private facility unless it has AWBI approval. Ideally, the civic body should promote a decentralised home shelter model by supporting individuals who already care for rescued dogs at their residences,” she said.
She also expressed concern over the conditions at the ABC centre at Vandithadam where more than 40 dogs are reportedly being housed.
“The facility is full and housing such a large number of animals together raises serious concerns about disease transmission and animal welfare,” Sreedevi said.