THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With continuing reports of stray dogs going on a rampage, authorities have come under severe public censure for their inaction. Why not implement the ‘Attingal model’ to curb the menace, asks the Sri Sathya Sai Orphanage Trust based in Thiruvananthapuram.
The trust has already approached the chief minister and LSGD minister with the proposal expressing interest to take up the ABC programme in the state. Between 2015 and 2018, the trust worked with local bodies in Attingal and Thiruvananthapuram to carry out ABC (Animal Birth Control) programme in the state.
“We have expressed our interest in carrying out the ABC programme across the state, and urged the government to make us the nodal agency,” says the trust’s founder and executive director, K N Anandakumar.
“We have prior experience, and our proposal is under the consideration of the government. They will hold more meetings with us. Attingal was the first municipality in the state to be declared rabies-free in 2017, and no other local body to date has achieved this. It took us seven months to finish the work, and we worked day and night to achieve the target. We sterilised over 2,000 dogs to make the municipality rabies-free.”
Anandakumar adds sterilisation drives in six corporation wards were completed. As many as 4,600 dogs were sterilised. “But then the plan of the civic body changed, and they wanted to invite expressions of interest to carry out the programme, and we had to discontinue our service, carried out without taking even a penny from the government,” he says.
The trust has already started efforts to hire dog catchers from North East states and Goa to launch the ABC programme in the state. “The government is very positive about our proposal, and we have joined the party to the plea submitted by the government in the Supreme Court to kill ferocious dogs and protect less-aggressive ones,” says Anandakumar.