Chandigarh, September 16: Adopting a humane approach towards the growing stray dog menace, the Punjab Government has decided to further ramp up the ongoing drive to sterilize street dogs in the state for controlling their population and checking the human-animal conflicts.
For this purpose, the Local Government department will engage veterinary doctors at the municipality level to give further impetus to the animal birth control and anti-rabies (ABC/ AR) programme in a humane manner.
Besides undertaking the extensive sterilisation drive, a separate campaign will also be launched soon to create public awareness and solicit their cooperation to not only check the stray dog menace but also control the cruelty against animals, especially dogs.
These decisions were taken at a meeting, chaired by the Chief Secretary, Ms Vini Mahajan, here, to review the progress of the measures being taken to control the menace of stray dogs and check cruelty against animals in the rural and urban areas of the state.
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The Chief Secretary asked the Local Government department to ensure that all the civic bodies engage only those animal welfare organisations/ NGOs having requisite permission from the Animal Welfare Board of India to carry out the ABC/ AR programme while adopting a humane approach in the state.
"This is required to ensure that the animal welfare organisations/ NGOs undertaking the dog sterilisation are having requisite infrastructure, experience, and expertise required as per the ABC (Dogs) Rules, 2001, in adherence to the relevant guidelines of AWBI to prevent cruelty to dogs,” she asserted.
Ms Mahajan was informed that over 1.7 lakh street dogs have so far been sterilised in the cities and villages across the state.
Principal Secretary, Local Government, Ajoy Kumar Sinha, apprised the Chief Secretary that the department has already constituted the monitoring and implementation committees at state as well as district levels for effective management of stray dogs, controlling rabies and putting brakes on the stray dog population while working under the ambit of law with a humane approach.
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The Chief Secretary directed the ACS-cum-Financial Commissioner Rural Development and Panchayats, Seema Jain, to take steps to further control the stray dog population in the rural areas. Ms Jain apprised the Chief Secretary that the Rural Development and Panchayats department has already sterilised 1,041 dogs in the rural areas of Muktsar, Jalandhar and Amritsar districts.
"Cruelty against animals, including stray dogs, would not be tolerated at any cost," asserted the Chief Secretary, while warning of strict action against all those involved in such inhuman acts.