COIMBATORE: Out of the total stray dog population of 1,11,074 in the five zones of the city, only around 7,000 animals were sterilised from January 2023 to December 2023, the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) said in a reply to a RTI query.
Further, the civic body stated that it had spent a whopping Rs 49.13 lakh for the sterilisation.
According to data obtained by TNIE from the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH), 25,910 dog bite cases were reported in the hospital in 2022. This increased to 27,235 cases in 2023. As per data given by CCMC in the RTI reply, there are a total of 1,11,074 stray dogs across the 5 zones in the city. These include 22,069 strays in the North, 31,499 in the South, 22,085 in the West, 11,017 in Central and 24,404 in the East zone as of December 2023.
Three NGOs were given the task of stray dog sterilisation - Humane Animal Society (HAS) was assigned West & North Zones, Prani Mithran was given South & East zones and central zone was assigned to Asra. Neutering of stray dogs and rabies vaccination are carried out at Seeranaickenpalayam (HAS), Ondipudur (Prani Mithran) and Ukkadam (Asra) Animal Birth Control Centres (ABCs).
NR Ravi Shankar, an RTI activist who obtained the information, told TNIE, “I sent RTI petitions to each of the five zones seeking information of stray dog population and sterilisation twice but did not get a reply. After I filed the second appeal with the commission, the CCMC shared details which revealed that a mere 7,018 stray dogs were sterilised from January 2023 to December 2023 out of the total stray dog population of 1,11,074. Also, the CCMC spent Rs 49,12,600 for the sterilisation and rabies vaccination for the 7,018 stray dogs.”
Apart from activists and public, several councillors raised concerns over the stray dog menace in their wards and demanded the civic body come up with an action plan to sort out the issue.
Sources said the CCMC will table a resolution in the council meeting on Wednesday to increase the sterilisation fee given to NGOs from Rs 700 to ` 1,650 per dog including Rs 200 for transportation . This has raised eyebrows as councillors are already disappointed with the pace of sterilisation carried out by the NGOs. Apart from that, the civic body plans to procure three mini trucks at a total cost Rs 21.65 lakhs to catch stray dogs.
Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran said, “The hike in stray dog sterilisation fee will be discussed in the council and decided later. In addition to the existing three mini trucks that have been deployed across the city for catching stray dogs, we’re planning to procure three more trucks.
With 3 ABC centres functioning in the city, work is in progress to set up another centre on the Vellalore dump yard campus. We’re also looking for a suitable place in the North Zone to establish another centre. Once all centres start functioning, stray dog population will reduce.”