‘More than 1L stray dogs are without sterilisation’

Mumbai: Despite various measures undertaken by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the stray dog menace is on the rise in the city. The population of stray dogs in the city has risen even as the number of dog bites, too, has gone up.

According to civic officials, more than 2.80 lakh stray dogs have been sterilised and immunised since 1998 with the help of NGOs at a cost of Rs 10 crore. However, there are still more than one lakh stray dogs roaming the city streets, which have not been sterilised.

According to the dog census carried out in January 2014, of the 95,172 dogs in existence then, 25,933 strays had not been sterilised. Of the 25,933, 14,671 were male and 11,262 were female. Taking into account the reproduction rate of dogs, the number of stray dogs in the city presently could be around one lakh, according to civic data.

A senior civic official said, “To control the stray dog population, the Animal Welfare Board of India has directed that 30 per cent of the dogs be sterilised. Considering this, more than 30,000 dogs should be sterilised annually by keeping a target of 1.02 lakh stray dogs in the next three years.”

Since 1998, more than 2.80 lakh stray dogs have been sterilised and immunised in the city at the cost of `10 crore. The civic body will spend a further `15.56 crore to sterilise 1.02 lakh stray dogs in the next three years (April 1017-March 2020).

According to civic data, a total 109,563 dog bite cases were reported in the city between March 2017 and February 2018, which works out to an average of one dog bite every 12 hours. The number of dog bites has been the highest in the past three years. It has also shown a rise by nearly 20 per cent as compared to last year.