BANGALORE: The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike has been on a stray dog-catching spree, following public pressure after the death of a girl killed by a pack of dogs. However, is this drive sustainable and will it reduce the stray dog menace in the city?

Perhaps not, animal rights activists feel. The BMP, contrary to its initial claims of catching only violent dogs, has been catching any dog it sights, an official said. Latest figures, according to the BMP, state that 556 dogs have been caught and 32 dogs have been euthanised. Those that were "put to sleep" were tested by veterinarians and found to be ferocious, the BMP said.

"The large numbers of dogs being captured and pushed into our pounds have put tremendous pressure on our infrastructure and threatens to destabilise the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme," Poornima Harish, trustee at Animal Rights Fund, said.

The ABC programme was launched in 2000 as a four-step programme to control and eventually rid the city of street dogs.

sUnder the programme, street dogs are captured, sterilised, vaccinated and let back into the same location that they were caught. It was started by the BMP in association with NGOs Karuna, Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA) and the ARF. It also enlists the support of the State Animal Husbandry Department.

The important part of the programme is to release the dogs back in the area. "But the large numbers of dogs have been making it difficult for us to keep track of which area they are from," Ms. Harish said. "If we release the dog in an area that it does not belong to, fights for territorial dominance begin, she said and added that the dog that loses the fight gets no food and might in desperation turn to people for food, making it more harmful.

What would happen if you do not release any dog in a particular area? Other dogs from surrounding areas would occupy the area, Ms. Harish said.

Terming the drive a special initiative, a less critical Suparna Ganguly of CUPA, said: "The night drive will not be a regular feature since animals cannot be caught easily in the dark." With sections of people demanding the elimination of all street dogs, the BMP might have its hands tied. But amid all the frantic night drives, veterinarian Gambetta Dacosta, said: "One needs to remember that we are responsible for the stress we put on dogs because we have changed the city and its sleepy culture."

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