Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

25 animal handlers complete training

Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The first batch of 25 volunteer animal handlers under the city corporation's Suraksha scheme for Integrated Rabies Control and Animal Birth Control, who recently completed a three-week training programme, were awarded certificates by Minister for Civil Supplies C. Divakaran here on Sunday.

The primary duty of the handlers will be catching stray dogs for sterilisation and providing paramedical assistance to veterinary doctors. Their services will also be made available to pet owners. Mayor C. Jayan Babu, who presided over the function, said the team would be registered as a self-help group. The city corporation had also set up an insurance scheme for the volunteers.

The training curriculum for these handlers included behavioural training, animal handling, dogs and dog keeping, classification of breeds and character traits, restraining of dogs, equipment and handling, rabies control and street dog control, pet dog licensing, breeding and kennel hygiene.

Expert veterinarians also trained them on methods to muzzle a dog, clean its ear, de-lice it, administer oral medication and take medical samples.

They were also trained in setting up aquariums and handling lovebirds.

Mr. Divakaran said the Suraksha programme could be a model to the rest of the country.

The Animal Husbandry Department would extend full support to it.

Mr. Jayan Babu said that the corporation intended to upgrade the Suraksha programme into a full-scale urban veterinary service. The team would be given dog-catching equipment and 40 mobile kennels, inside which dogs can also be given preliminary treatment. "By and by, we should also think of promoting pet therapy which has caught on in a big way in the West," he added.

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