VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has intensified its Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme across the city, ramping up sterilisation and anti-rabies vaccination drives ahead of the Supreme Court’s August 7 2026 deadline for States and Union Territories to submit compliance reports on stray dog management before their respective HCs.
To fast-track the exercise, the civic body has deployed multiple dog-catching vehicles across the city, with teams of 10 to 20 personnel engaged in catching, transporting, sterilising, vaccinating and releasing stray dogs under the Animal Birth Control programme.
The intensified drive has yielded significant results over the past three months. A total of 1,067 stray dogs were sterilised in April, 1,178 in May and 1,182 in June, taking the total to 3,427. During the same period, 1,385 dogs were vaccinated in April, 1,873 in May and 1,667 in June, taking the number of anti-rabies vaccinations to 4,925.
From the initiated establishment of 61 designated feeding zones across the city last November , the number has now increased to 286 designated zones. The corporation currently operates one functional Animal Birth Control (ABC) centre, while its shelter facility has the capacity to accommodate 320 dogs.
In March this year, the VMC constituted ward-level stray dog committees across all 64 wards to strengthen vigil and ensure quicker response to complaints. At the time, officials had stated that 19,200 stray dogs had been sterilised since 2024-25, while around 3,000 dogs were fitted with reflective radium bands to improve their visibility at night.
Veterinary Assistant Surgeon Dr Hareesh told TNIE, “Resurvey will be done at Sanitation Inspector level and if we find any left overs, those will be operated.”
Khushali Agarwal
