Stray dog menace: Kochi Corporation’s ABC centre operations hampered by vehicle issues, Opposition alleges apathy

Kochi Corporation's ABC Centre faces disruptions due to vehicle issues, sparking concerns over stray dog menace management.

The functioning of the Kochi Corporation’s Animal Birth Control (ABC) Centre at Brahmapuram remains disrupted after the vehicle deployed for catching dogs and bringing them to the centre had to be taken off the road for periodical fitness tests, leading to the Opposition clamour that the civic body is not serious about the stray dog menace, which has worsened of late.

The Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) has alleged that the centre has been dysfunctional for the last three months and that no sterilisation surgery has been performed, citing the logbook at the centre. The failure to deploy an alternative vehicle for catching dogs has also been cited as proof of the alleged “apathy of the ruling dispensation to a serious issue.”

However, Corporation health standing committee chairperson T.K. Ashraf shot down the allegations as baseless. He claimed that aggressive dogs are still being caught using alternative vehicles and that surgeries have been taking place unhindered.

“The centre has sterilised over 8,000 strays in the city. However, the number of stray dogs on the streets is unlikely to drop considering that dogs even from outside the Corporation limits are entering the city limits due to the easy availability of food on the streets and the proliferation of feeders,” he said.

The centre resumed operations a few months ago after a prolonged closure for extensive electrification and civil works at an estimated ₹46 lakh. However, only one out of the two vets was available at the centre now, restricting the number of sterilisation surgeries to three to five a day, unlike up to a possible 10 a day if both vets were available.

“If the Corporation was serious about the issue, then it would have increased the number of vets and also the surgery tables from the existing two to increase the rate of sterilisation of dogs. The centre has not made any progress from when it was set up as the first such facility in the State in 2015,” said M.G. Aristotle, UDF parliamentary party leader.

The Corporation health wing sources said that steps have been initiated to recruit one more vet at the earliest. Besides, efforts are on to improve the facilities at the centre, including more vehicles and surgery tables. “We are going ahead with the project, to be funded by BPCL-Kochi Refinery,” said Mr. Ashraf.