THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The shocking death of an 11-year-old, who was mauled by stray dogs in Kannur, has once again brought the local bodies and the state government under the scanner.
Following a slew of rabies deaths earlier this year, the local self-government department took the decision to scale up vaccination and sterilisation activities in local bodies across the state.
Unfortunately, the efforts have made little or no progress in many districts. Despite rising stray dog attacks, deaths related to rabies and dog bites, the local self- government institutions have failed to set up Animal Birth Control (ABC) Centres.
Interestingly, even after so many months, Alappuzha, Malappuram, Kasaragod, Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts have no ABC Centres. As per data, there are 2.89 lakh stray dogs and 8.3 lakh domestic dogs in the state. Minister for Animal Husbandry J Chinchurani told TNIE that public resistance is a major challenge being faced by the government.
“The local bodies have set aside funds for setting up ABC centres, but unfortunately owing to resistance they are unable to identify suitable land for setting up the centres,” said Chinchurani. The minister blamed poor waste management for the growing stray dog attacks.
“Dumping waste in public places is one of the causes for the dogs to gang up. We need the cooperation of the public to end the dog menace,” she said.
State govt to write to Centre
Making things more difficult for the local bodies in the state, the Ministry for Animal Welfare has recently amended and notified the ABC Rules 2023.
As per the amended rules, the local bodies or the animal welfare organisation carrying out the ABC programme has to obtain approval for each project from the AWBI. “We have decided to hold an emergency meeting in the coming days as the new rules are difficult to comply with. We are in a state of emergency and for getting results we need to carry out ABC programmes immediately. We cannot sit and wait for the Centre to ratify each and every project proposal in the state. We will continue implementing all programmes,” said the minister.
The minister said that 438 local bodies have set aside Rs 10 crore for setting up ABC Centres. According to former member of State Animal Welfare Board M N Jayachandran, the government should rethink its stand on the involvement of NGOs in stray dog management.
“NGOs used to play a key role in the management of strays but unfortunately the government is not allowing their involvement. ABC centres should be set up with the active participation of NGOs, and CSR funds can be utilised for this. Many local bodies are citing fund crunch as a reason and this issue can be resolved easily,” said Jayachandran.
STATE TO MOVE SC TO CULL DANGEROUS DOGS
LSG Minister M B Rajesh on Monday said the state government will again approach the Supreme Court seeking permission to kill dangerous and aggressive dogs. He said an emergency meeting will be convened to take adequate measures to avoid such incidents. Stating the death of Nihal extremely unfortunate, the minister said the state government will take all precautionary measures to prevent such incidents in the future. A release issued from the office of the animal husbandry department said 57 local self-government institutions have set aside funds for the ABC programme, the release said.