Dogged by indifference

Archana Sharma / TNN / May 15, 2007, 02:21 IST

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Soon, the dog sterilisation programme will cross the much awaited one-lakh mark

MUMBAI: It's too late to celebrate. This month, the dog sterilisation programme will cross the much awaited one-lakh mark. NGOs in the city would have sterilised 1 lakh dogs since the the programme began in 1998. However, it has taken nine long years to reach this figure, when it should have been attained in three to four years.
At the current rate—1,250 strays a day—barely 15,000 dogs are sterilised a year.Experts said that considering the stray population in Mumbai, 45,000 should be neutered a year to keep a check on their numbers. As per the BMC estimate, there are four to five lakh strays in the city, and their numbers are growing. More strays mean a danger of more dog bites and rabies.
There are five sterilisation centres in Mumbai, all run by NGOs. The BMC provides space, water, electricity, the dog vans and catchers and they in turn carry out the surgeries.

But the NGOs have said that they are tired of the BMC's lack of will. If the BMC were to provide adequate staff and dog vans, fund the NGOs, allow for the construction of more kennels and augment the centres, 40,000 dogs could be sterilised annually.
Animal lovers have no doubt about the reason for the BMC's lack of will. "Talk of killing stray dogs and the corporation will pounce at the opportunity," a dog lover said.
It's not just lack of will, but also lack of cooperation. Recently, the BMC shouted itself hoarse that 21 people had died of rabies last year. When Welfare for Stray Dogs (WSD) asked for the areas the victims came from, so it could carry out mass vaccinations, the BMC executive health officer gave a one-line reply. "Addresses of patients cannot be given as per medical ethics and R B Act 1969 (Registration of Birth and Death Act)," said the terse

note. A request through the RTI Act elicited a similar response.
"We were shocked. This was not some lay person asking for information. We wanted to know which animal (dog or cat, or even a pet) had caused the rabies. If they had given us just the area, we would have immunised dogs there," said Abodh Aras, chief executive officer of WSD.
The WSD in Mahalaxmi is run at the place where stray dogs were once killed. Hearteningly, the former electrocution room is today the recovery room for sterilised dogs. Around 150 dogs are operated there every month. Yet the place, a BMC property, doesn't get piped water. "Recently, due to a string of holidays, we didn't get tanker water for five days," said Aras.
Sterilisations would double if the BMC simply allowed the NGOs to construct more kennels in existing compounds. In Defence of Animals (IDA), which operates at Deonar, has been asking for permission to build more kennels for three years. There are around 15 kennels in its compound, where 450 dogs are sterilised every month. Around 15 more kennels would allow the numbers to double.
"We aren't even asking the BMC to build the kennels. All we want is the permission to build, which only the BMC can give," said Fiza Shah of IDA. "We have not even got a clear reply. They don't even say they are denying permission. They just dilly-dally."
Almost all the five NGOs have asked for permission to increase the number of kennels, but in vain. "NGOs don't bribe, you see. So they never get the okay," quipped a dog lover at a sterilisation centre.
There is also a shortage of dog vans and catchers. For the entire city, there are only four dog vans, so the BMC takes dogs to the sterilisation centres only on alternate days.
The BMC has also not paid the NGOs a single paisa since 1998, though a committee recommended paying Rs 600 per sterilised dog. Initially, the BMC claimed the NGOs hadn't provided account details. Now it says it is checking to see if the NGOs were already paid by Animal Welfare Board of India, a central government body.

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