Thiruvananthapuram: Veterinary doctors will be appointed to resolve the stray dog menace in Kerala, Minister of Animal Husbandry J Chinchu Rani said on Tuesday.
'The doctors will be deployed to execute the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme. Vacant positions in panchayats will be filled via employment exchanges,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Veterinary University has come up with six-pronged approach to address the stray dog situation in the state. They are:
1. Train labourers, including guest workers, to catch stray dogs that show aggressive behaviour.
2. Train paramedical staff and those under veterinary deployment to administer anti-rabies vaccine.
3. Administer anti-rabies vaccines free of cost at Mannuthy, Pookod campuses.
4. Give technical assistance to build animal shelters for hosting stray dogs.
5. Train doctors to conduct neutering and related procedures.
6. Conduct awareness programmes for the public, under the guidance of Preventive Medicine, Public Health departments, at the Veterinary University.
Local self-government minister M B Rajesh on Monday said that the Kerala government would seek the permission of the Supreme Court to cull aggressive and rabies-infected stray dogs. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and the subordinate rules it spawned, Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2001, prohibit killing or even maiming of stray dogs.
Meanwhile, the minister said that a stepped-up month-long vaccination drive would be conducted from September 20 to October 20.
