Civic body vaccinates 72,000 dogs in 7-month drive

Declaring the completion of the immunisation drive, the civic body said 68,877 stray dogs were immunised and dewormed. Apart from this, 4,021 pet dogs also were also immunised. According to a Chennai Corporation press statement, the drive was started in Madhavaram zone in July 2019, and completed immunising 8,846 dogs in eight days. The civic body also had immunised 8,243 dogs in Ambattur zone.

“Dog immunisation drive was started following a dog census conducted across the city. During the census, we had identified more than 57,000 stray dogs. We have also covered the dogs that were born after the dog census. Apart from vaccinating the dogs against rabies, we had also dewormed them,” a Chennai Corporation official said. It may be noted that the civic body had planned to complete the drive with 75 days after the commencement but got delayed due to several factors. The plan is to conduct an immunisation drive once in two years. Earlier, the Chennai Corporation would administer rabies vaccine to the dogs when they were caught for sterilisation. “The drive was conducted under ‘Rabies-free Chennai’ initiative. The drive was conducted under the supervision of zonal-level officials,” the release added. Presently, the civic body has 16 vehicles to catch stray dogs for sterilisation and leave them after the procedure on the same streets. Meanwhile, responding to the civic body’s invitation, around 125 persons who are feeding stray dogs in their respective neighbourhood have registered with the Chennai Corporation. “A few days ago, we had conducted a meeting with the feeders, in which they requested us to use sophisticated methods to catch stray dogs without hurting them,” a senior official said.