NEW DELHI: Much before the Supreme Court’s order that led to renewed attention towards tackling the menace of stray dogs, the Centre had sent multiple letters/advisories to states and UTs with the latest one on July 16 asking local civic bodies to undertake large-scale sterilisation programmes, covering 70% of stray dogs. These letters had constantly been flagging inaction on the ground — the point which the apex court too had underlined in its orders this month.One of the letters, sent by the ministry of animal husbandry and dairying in Nov last year, clearly pointed out the failure of states in implementing the animal birth control (ABC) programme and the anti-rabies vaccination programme.“The central government has framed the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023. However, there has been violation of the Rules by state local bodies,” said the ministry in its letter to the chief secretaries of states/UTs on November 11, 2024.It said, “Municipal bodies should ensure that dogs within their jurisdiction, especially in areas such as anganwadis, schools and hospitals are mandatorily sterilised.”Since the incidents of dog bites continued unabated, secretaries of three ministries — animal husbandry, housing and urban affairs, and panchayati raj — jointly issued an advisory on July 16, reiterating that “sterilisation of stray dogs is central to dog population management”. Pointing out that the current infrastructure in many urban areas remains inadequate, they requested all urban local bodies to establish ABC units and roll-out large-scale sterilisation programmes, targeting at least 70% of the stray dog population to achieve measurable outcomes.The day Supreme Court had come out with its order on Aug 11, directing local civic bodies in Delhi-NCR to round up stray dogs and confine them in shelters, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) asked the states/UTs to adopt the revised ABC module/scheme — published on February 27 — to implement sterilisation and vaccination programmes.Under the revised scheme, financial assistance of up to Rs 800 per dog is given for local bodies to conduct ABC programmes. Besides a one-time grant of Rs 2 crore is provisioned for state-run veterinary hospitals. In addition, the AWBI provides assistance up to Rs 15 lakh for establishment of small animal shelter to Urban Local Bodies, Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animal and recognised animal welfare organisations.In response to a parliament question during the monsoon session on August 19, the minister of state for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying S P Singh Baghel in his written response said that the issue of stray dogs falls under the purview of state governments, with local bodies mandated to manage related matters.“To ensure humane and effective dog population management, the central government has framed the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. These Rules align with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) standards for the Capture–Neuter–Vaccinate–Release (CNVR) approach. Under the Rules, local bodies are responsible for implementing sterilisation and vaccination programmes in collaboration with animal welfare organisations,” Singh informed the Lok Sabha.
