GUWAHATI: Guwahati has witnessed a significant rise in the population of stray dogs which pose serious problems to both humans and animals.
Whilst acknowledging human and animal health to be a priority, the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) found it essential to control dog populations without causing unnecessary or avoidable animal suffering to the healthy dog population.
Guwahati Municipal Corporation had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the NGO, Just Be Friendly (JBF) in the year 2018 for a period of five years to sterilize and vaccinate stray dogs within the municipal jurisdiction.
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The veterinary branch of GMC has lifted over 7,120 stray dogs so far and handed them over to Just Be Friendly (JBF) for vaccination and is continuing to do so.
JBF is a welfare organisation which has undertaken various activities to minimize suffering among animals by providing them with veterinary care for the past 17 years.
These dogs are provided with food and other amenities and kept under observation for 3-4 days till they heal completely after which they are released at the same place from where they were lifted.
During the entire process, dogs are taken proper care according to GMC officials who inspect and ensure proper hygiene, adequate food and water for the animals.
The tips of the ears of these dogs are pierced in V-shape mark which helps to identify a sterilised and vaccinated dog.
The vaccination costs about Rs 1,500/- per dog of which GMC bears a cost up to Rs 900 and JBF bears Rs 600 per dog.
GMC has contributed an amount of around Rs 64,08,000/- since 2018 for the Anti-Rabies Vaccination (ARV) and Anti Birth Control (ABC) operation.
Rabies is a fatal virus, often transmitted through bite or scratch of an infected animal therefore ARV vaccine reduces the chance of rabies contamination.
Further, the only scientific method to humanely reduce street dog populations is mass spaying and neutering, commonly known as animal birth control (ABC).
Through ABC programs, all the dogs within a community or region are sterilized and then released back to their territories, as a result of which, dog breeding stops and their population declines.