CHENNAI, August 4: The Coimbatore Corporation is to open three more Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres to curb stray dog menace in the city which witnessed nine dog bite cases in the past two days.
K. Swaminathan, retired teacher, Avinashi, Coimbatore told IANS, “People are not able to walk out in the street to buy essentials due to a large number of stray dogs. In the past two days, nine people were bitten by the stray dogs and the local population has come out against the corporation taking no action against this stray dog menace.”
He said that while there are two ABC centres in Coimbatore each able to sterilise 30 dogs a day, the lethargic attitude of the staff in these centres has led to the sterilisation of a very small number of dogs per day.
With the local population up in arms against the callous attitude of the corporation authorities and staff in sterilising the dogs, the corporation announced that it would open three more ABC centres. These centres will come up in north, south and central zones of the city.
Coimbatore Corporation Commissioner, M. Prathap while speaking to media persons said, “Dogs are territorially bound and shifting them from their habitats would lead to them becoming more hostile. The only solution is to carry out mass sterilisation and prevent stray breeding. As part of this, the corporation is to set up 3 ABC centres in three zones of the corporation.”
The corporation will also increase the amount for sterilising a dog from Rs 435 to Rs 700.
The corporation has also sought help from certain organisations and welfare associations to conduct stray dog censuses and sterilise them. The corporation will also conduct special sterilisation camps thrice a week in addition to the new ABC centres that are coming up in the three zones of the corporation.