In recent months, repeated cases of dog bites have been reported from different parts of the city. The corporation has expressed helplessness in this regard, alleging inaction on the part of the civic body in handling the stray dogs roaming the streets of the city, accusing it of raising fingers against the Kozhikode Corporation.
“We can’t kill the dog. We can only tell it apart if it is certified by a vet that it is a rabid dog. Currently, we’re only doing what we’re capable of doing – doing animal birth control. [ABC]S Jayashree, chairman of the corporation’s health standing committee, said.
The corporation had recently received praise from the State Human Rights Commission for effectively running the ABC program on stray dogs. The commission had asked the civic body to carry out ABC activities in the adjoining panchayats as well. Ms Jayashree said that the ABC Center of the Corporation at Poolakkadavu is presently the only center of its kind in the State having the facility to sterilize 12 dogs in a day. However, the capacity of the center is limited and it cannot handle dogs from nearby panchayats.
“We plan to expand the centre, add more surgery tables and even open a training center in Poolakkadavu. But the local residents who have been against the project from the very beginning are still at loggerheads with the corporation,” said Ms Jayashree.
The corporation also plans to set up a dog shelter for stray animals, but has not been able to identify a suitable location for the same. “Some organizations had come forward to take responsibility of the stray dogs and had set up a shelter in Thamarassery. But with the Supreme Court order not to take dogs more than 6 km away from their area, we had to reject their proposals,” the Speaker said.