THENI: The winter onset has left uncontrolled amounts of dogs to roam the crowded streets in large numbers, with some of them entering government hospitals causing panic among the public. The issue was raised in the recent agricultural grievance meeting, stating that it was due to the negligence of the municipality in controlling the menace. In order to control the population of stray dogs, each district has a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), which is responsible for the protection and nurturing of abandoned animals, with the district collector as its chairman.
Speaking to TNIE, V Pandi from Periyakulam, said cleanliness workers had to take the blame for killing dogs in his childhood when complaints were raised about the dog menace. "Now, it is evident that there is a problem of overpopulation. No birth control operation or immunisation has been carried out for over 10,000 street dogs in the district. However, the municipality does not have any records of street dogs," he said.
Responding to this issue, Joint Director of Animal Husbandry Dr S Subbiah Pandian said the department has enough doctors and other medical facilities, however, lacks adequate operation theatres for sterilisation of dogs. "In the district, only Andipatti municipality has an operation theatre, which was set up a month ago, only for the male dogs. Municipal staff have to catch the dogs a day before, as the surgery can be performed only if the dog has an empty stomach for 12 hours. Over 20 male dogs have been sterilised. In the case of female dogs, post-operative care is required. The municipality needs to understand this and create post-operation centres for dogs so as to monitor them for three days. It helps to control the population of dogs," he said.
As per Government Medical College Hospital in Theni records an average of 300 patients came for dog bites in Government hospitals in the past year. The animal husbandry department has also planned to organise 12 'rabies control and preventive measures' camps in the district. "First camp will be at Andipatti on September 28. Pet dogs will be immunised during the camps," he added.
