Wednesday 21 December 2011

Dog bites up by 26% in Ahmedabad, civic body seeks NGOs' help

With 3,580 cases of animal bites registered this November, it's time AMC flagged off its dog sterilisation project. The total number of canine bites this year has reached 34,215, which is 26% higher than last year's figure of 27,091 registered from January to November in 2010. Dog bite cases registered in the last five years indicate that the situation goes from bad to worse during winters.

However, after three consecutive efforts to finalise an agency, civic body officials hope to resolve this issue soon. Now, instead of inviting tenders for the dog sterilisation project, the civic body is approaching non-government organisations (NGOs) registered with Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and inviting offers from them. Till now, the civic body has received two offers and a couple more are in the pipeline.

"We hope to fix the issue of finalising the agency for animal birth control programme (alternative name for dog sterilisation programme) within 15 days. After receiving all offers from NGOs, the report will be submitted to the municipal commissioner," said Dilip Gor, deputy municipal commissioner, cattle nuisance and control department (CNCD).

Some time back, three organisations/NGOs interested in dog sterilisation were finalised by the AMC. In one of the meetings of the health department held in August 2011, health committee chairman Suresh Patel had promised to begin the sterilisation of the dogs latest by August 15. Everything was finalised right from the locations to the vehicles, but the work was not initiated.

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