Pune: Animal activists from the city and Blue Cross Society (BCS) in the city are at loggerheads. The activists, who work as volunteers, claim that the BCS neglects the health and hygiene of the stray dogs after conducting sterlisation surgery.
According to them, the BCS members lack affection towards stray animals. “There is no compassion in the vets. The management is not following the protocol for sterilisation of dogs. I feed almost 60 stray dogs per day, I have seen the condition of dogs before and after sterilisation. I have gone through enough cases where dogs die because of the surgery which is done in a wrong manner,” claimed a volunteer from Viman Nagar on condition of anonymity.
However, rubbishing their claims, Ajit Shinde, Manager at BCS said, “We are doing our best to sterilise stray dogs. One in a hundred dogs may have died because of improper surgery, but this does not happen every time. Similarly, dogs brought here are in bad health most of the time. Some are malnourished and some have infections. We keep them under observation for five days during the operation process. It includes the first day fasting, then the operation and two-three days’ care after the surgery. We are constantly improving our infrastructure. As we are a Charitable Trust, we get Rs 655 from Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) per surgery. We have additional charge of kennels and food,” Shinde said.
The volunteers alleged there is no tagging, and no records are kept about the stray dogs. Earlier, the dog catchers used to do their jobs decently but now they have a fixed target of catching 30 dogs per day, so they just stuff dogs in a van and take them away. After surgery, they are not even released in their specific areas,” said a volunteer from Hadapsar.
BCS is a animal welfare organisation which treats injured and abandoned dogs. They also perform sterilisation, not only to curtail the stary dog population but also to check their aggression. But due to recent deaths of stray dogs in Kharadi, Viman Nagar, volunteers are claiming that BCS is sterilising dogs in a wrong manner. The estimated population of stray dogs in Pune is more than a lakh.
According to Animal Birth Control (ABC) Act, 2001, the stray dog is caught, then sterilised, immunised and again released in the same area. Stray dog control unit is run under the Health Department of the PMC. Complaints of stray dog nuisance are resolved by the four zonal Medical Officiers.
The department is decentralised and run by a Zonal Medical Officer, Divison Santiory Inspector. Each Zonal Medical Officer has one dog van.
