Stray dogs receive anti-rabies vaccine in special drive

Bhubaneswar: Over 600 stray dogs were given anti-rabies vaccine in a special drive on the premises of nine institutions on World Veterinary Day on Saturday.

The total number of stray dogs vaccinated under anti-rabies mission in past 25 days (since March 30) crossed 10,000, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials said. “The effort was well coordinated to ensure that dogs living in and around institutional premises received timely vaccination. We have taken note of places where stray dogs frequently interact with students, staff, patients and visitors. The anti-rabies mission is continuing in other parts of the city as teams work to expand coverage,” said Debi Prasad Kund, in charge of animal birth control (ABC) programme of BMC.

The dogs are being caught using nets at places where they roam, get vaccination, and then are released. Some friendly dogs are also caught by hand and vaccinated. They will not be relocated to other places. “We prefer early morning to carry out the drive. Each vaccinated dog is being tagged using non-toxic biological marker so that they are easily recognisable when they mingle with other dogs. The tagging will help check repetitive catch,” Kund said.

In another development, Nandankanan Zoo celebrated World Veterinary Day in line with the global theme, “Veterinarians: Guardians of Food and Health.” Veterinary personnel were felicitated for their service.