COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) has opened three more ABC (Animal Birth Control) centres to curb stray dog menace in the city. Recently, around nine children and two adults were hospitalized due to stray dog bite, following which the civic body's leisurely manner in sterilizing stray dogs drew sharp criticism from the public.
The city currently has two ABC centres, in Seeranaikenpalayam (West Zone) and Ondipudur (East Zone) respectively. Though the centres have capacity to sterilize 30 dogs per day, lack of manpower and funds hampered the process.
In this backdrop, CCMC Commissioner M Prathap said three more centres are to come up in the North, South and Central Zones soon. Prathap said, "As dogs are territorially bound by psychology, shifting their habitation would only make them more hostile. So the only solution is to carry out mass sterilization and prevent stray breeding. In view of this, special camps are set to be held regularly to control the stray dog menace. Also, 3 more ABC centres are to be set up in the remaining 3 zones."
The Commissioner added that a GO which has been previously issued was not implemented to date and will be implemented soon in Coimbatore to lighten the burden. As per the GO, the charges for sterilising a dog will be increased to Rs 700 from Rs 435.
P Mariselvan, chairperson of the health committee, highlighted how the cost of providing food and medication for the dogs that are sterilised, is burning a hole in the pockets of the ABC centres. He also made it a point to bring out how the count of stray cows is also on a steady rise in the streets, causing difficulty to motorists and the public and requested the officials to capture and treat dogs without harming them.
The corporation has currently sought the help of a couple of welfare organizations to conduct a stray dog census and sterilize them. The civic body also kick-started a special dog sterilizing camp from July 29 which will end on August 4 this week in several parts of the city. The Commissioner revealed that the special camps are set to be organized thrice a week in the upcoming days to control the stray dog population.