Even though as many as over 12,000 people were bitten by stray dogs in Pune last year, the PMC is yet to tackle the life-threatening menace
Unequipped: PMC's dog-catching squads and their vans are not adequately equipped, and the rescuers do not have the required nets to catch the canines
As many as 12,319 people in the city fell prey to stray dogs’ bites in the last year, but the Pune Municipal Corporation is yetto take any action. The issue was raised at the PMC generalbody meeting.
Unequipped: PMC’s dog-catching squads and their vans are not adequately equipped, and the rescuers do not have the required nets to catch the canines
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BJP corporator Madhuri Sahasrabuddhe took up this long-pending issue in the general body meeting held yesterday afternoon. She began by asserting that even though she had highlighted this problem last year, timely action was not taken by the administration.
“After restrictions were imposed on killing of stray dogs in 1994, efficient animal birth control programme is the only option that PMC has. But looking at the consistent increase in the ratio of stray dogs in the city, it is becoming clear that preventive measures are not being executed,” Sahasrabuddhe said.
In fact, the PMC has not conducted any census or survey of stray dogs in the city. The last dog census it conducted was in 1993, but it was only for pet dogs.
Even this record, however, has not been updated in the last 20 years.
The PMC records still show the same figure of 40,000, for the number of pet dogs.
Wrong timing
The PMC has given the contract of dog sterilisation to three firms. “Even though the PMC has appointed these firms, during every dog breeding season, the contracts expire,” Sahasrabuddhe added. She also expressed the need to conduct a dog census in the city at the earliest.
The Nationalist Congress Party corporator Nanda Lonkar and Congress councillor Datta Bahirat also supported Sahasrabuddhe’s demands towards this cause. “In my ward, many times, PMC’s dog catching vans are not adequately equipped. The employees don’t have the required net to catch the dogs,” Bahirat said.
40,000
As per the PMC’s records, which haven’t been updated in the last two decades, this is the number of pet dogs in the city since 1993
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