THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Animal Welfare Board of India has locked horns with the City Corporation over the slaughter of stray dogs by the local body. Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, board chairman R.M. Kharb accused the Corporation of indiscriminate killing of stray dogs.

He said the failure to establish a monitoring system was threatening to derail the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme launched by the civic body to sterilise dogs and keep their population under control.

However, the Corporation maintains that it is well within its rights to destroy stray dogs that pose a threat to humans. Civic officials say they are under immense pressure from the public to kill the animals roaming the streets. They point out that the High Court in a judgement issued on September 13, had upheld a direction issued by the Ombudsman for local bodies to slay stray dogs.

The issue had reached the Court after the Municipal Director issued a circular on April 20 asking local bodies to stop killing strays. Corporation functionaries observe that the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act permitted destruction of street dogs that are sick and dangerous.

The Animal Welfare Board, however, argued that the law has been misinterpreted to suit vested interests. Mr. Kharb said there was no evidence to prove that the destroyed animals were a threat to humans. SPCA secretary A.G. Babu and Dr.S. Arun of the Animal Rescue Kerala who were present at the press conference, said the civic officials had failed to maintain records of the animals captured or killed by dog catchers. They stressed the need to broad base the ABC programme and equip it with a monitoring committee comprising non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and district veterinary officers.

Corporation officials however claim that the ABC programme had received little support from animal welfare organisations in the city, despite the best efforts of the local body to enlist their cooperation. "Many of the NGOs are flush with funds from the Animal Welfare Board. But apart from accompanying the dog catching squads and feeding the sterilised animals, they were not prepared to offer any financial assistance or other help," a civic official said.

Corporation Senior Veterinary Surgeon Dr. L.Ravikumar said selective killing of stray dogs was unavoidable. "In many cases, a rabid dog would mingle with strays in the locality and pass on the virus. Vaccinating all the dogs in the area is practically impossible since they have to be administered the vaccine six times over a period of 90 days. Monitoring the animals to assess their immunity status is also a difficult proposition", he says.

Referring to the demand to broad base the ABC network, Dr.Ravikumar said the shortage of veterinary surgeons was a major obstacle. "There is only one surgeon at each of the nine vet hospitals under the Corporation. The surgeons set aside their routine jobs to devote one day per week for the ABC programme", he said.

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