Admn and MC undecided over land allotment for dog pound

However,the UT finance secretary in a letter dated March 8,2011 asked the MC to intimate as to why the dog pound cannot be constructed on land of the civic body. The issue was taken up with the Estate Branch of the MC and it was intimated that there was no suitable land under the jurisdiction of the civic body for the construction of a dog pound.

Thereafter,the MC had written several times to the Administration. Letters dated January 13,March 14,June 29,November 5 and December 24 written in last year and a letter dated April 4,2013 were written to the Administration to allot the already earmarked land.

Data presented in the House revealed that there have been 16,383 dog bite cases in the city from 2010 till date. These were reported in the Sector 19 dispensary. The MC sterilised 1,150 dogs between January 2012 and June 2013. Also from April to July 2013,as many as 1,020 dogs were vaccinated.

Proposal for a dog pound has been doing the rounds for several years now. Funds are also earmarked in the MC budget every year for the purpose. However,the project has failed to take off. Municipal Commissioner Vivek Pratap Singh pointed out that even when the dog pound is constructed,dogs cannot be kept confined there. He said,dogs that require treatment will only be taken to the pound. Thereafter,the dogs will have to be released in the same place where these were picked up from as per rules.

Councillor Arun Sood said that there should be provisions for killing stray dogs. A proposal had earlier been mooted for dispensaries for rabies treatment in different zones.

Nominated councillor Major D S Sandhu (Retd) said that dogs that have been sterilised and vaccinated should have some identification mark. Even the Animal Birth Control rules have this provision. He added that they should be given a schedule about when the teams would be coming to their areas for picking up these dogs.