A life in the day of a dog catcher

Chennai Corporation dog catcher J. Immanuel shares his journey of protecting children from rabid dogs in the city.

At 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Chennai Corporation dog catcher J. Immanuel, 30, started from the Royapuram zone, accompanied by four workers with butterfly nets, in search of stray dogs for animal birth control operations.

Once he reached Choolai, all four workers were positioned on the street setting the trap, capturing a dog in five minutes. As the frightened animal lay gasping for breath, trapped in the butterfly net, Mr.Immanuel gave the animal an affectionate pat, in a bid to assuage the animal’s fears.

“We will never leave the animal in the net for long. The dog should be transferred to the vehicle instantly to prevent it from breathing heavily. Dogs are intelligent. They quake with fear as they sense what is going to happen,” he says. All the dogs trapped on Tuesday in the city cowered inside the nets, instead of showing aggression. “A few aggressive dogs have bitten me in the stomach,” he says, pointing to one of the sunken scars.

“Rabid dogs increase the risk for children in a locality,” he notes. Mr.Immanuel had visited Washermenpet with his team after 27 residents were reportedly bitten by a rabid dog a few months ago. “We found the carcass of the rabid dog while our team visited the location. We captured 200 dogs, working for 10 days after the incident. After animal birth control operations, all dogs have been immunised and released in the original locality. Now the risk has reduced, our children are safe,” said Mr.Immanuel.

While his team visited neighbourhoods for catching dogs on Tuesday, many residents cooperated, and a few animal lovers questioned the rationale behind the drive. “Whenever we release dogs in the original location after animal birth control operation, the residents oppose. Sensitising residents in animal birth control norms remains a challenge,” says Mr.Immanuel, noting the address of residents who complained about dogs in a separate register. The most important aspect of his work involves the successful release of the dog after birth control and immunisation in the original locality. His work closes at 2 p.m., but the duty usually extends late in the afternoon as the complaints pile up.

Starting his work as a labourer, cleaning dog poop in animal birth control units in 2007 for earning Rs.1500 per month, Mr.Immanuel joined the dog catching squad of GCC under NULM in 2014, earning a salary of around Rs.10,000 per month. “Our wages increased from Rs.513 to Rs.687 per day recently. Then wages were revised to Rs.753 per day. We earn around Rs.22,500 every month. But most of the 78 dog catchers in Chennai receive wages under NULM unlike permanent staff who get a decent salary,” he says.

Despite having set a goal of becoming an advocate, Mr.Immanuel dropped out of school one month ahead of the SSLC exam after the death of his father. He hopes for a day when higher education institutions of excellence in Chennai offer his children an opportunity for education without having to drop out.