Animal lovers and welfare groups are rather positive about the recent Bombay High Court suggestion to set up monitoring committees to oversee implementation of stray dogs sterilisation programmes in the city.
However, some are skeptical about how the Brihanmaumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will handle the order.
Expressing enthusiasm over the order, Colonel JC Khanna of Bombay Society for Prevention against Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA), said, “The plan will work well only if guidelines are followed properly. Infrastructure has to be provided for sub committees to function. All the committees should be connected through phone lines.”
With a parent committee, six sub committees and 12 animal birth control centres set up, Khanna said that even the common people could benefit from it.
“Till now, it has been very difficult for people wanting to help a sick or injured dog. With the setting up of interconnected sub committees, concerned citizens can make one call and we could have the infrastructure to pass on the information to the nearest center,” he explained, pointing out that all this is possible only if the court suggestion is taken in good spirit.
This year, the BMC has a budget of Rs six crore for the sterilisation programme, Khanna said.
Abod Aras of Welfare for Stray Dogs, agreed, “We can now organise a proper infrastructure, get dog vans, build kennels, and a sub committee can be held accountable for it.”
Recent surveys suggest that Mumbai has about six lakh stray dogs. Aras said that while the NGOs were doing their best to sterilise dogs, they are falling short because of the lack of help from BMC. “About 40,000 dogs in the city need to be sterilised, but to do that we need to either increase the existing kennel capacity or build more kennels,” he said.
In Defence of Animals’ vice president Fizzah Shah said that last year the BMC did not release any funds to NGOs for sterilisation programmes, “We had to raise funds ourselves. I hope we get more support from the BMC this time.”
Last week, the high court proposed that a monitoring committee—which will include the municipal commissioner, a veterinary doctor, a representative of Society for Prevention of Cruelty of Animals and two representatives of animal welfare NGOs—will be set up for the management of stray dogs in the city. When contacted, the BMC said they could not comment because the matter is subjudiced.