Chennai corporation to begin anti-rabies vaccination drive for stray dogs

The anti-rabies drive will be carried out in 80 days. Express Infograph: Shivani Ramakrishnan

“Seven teams, consisting of one veterinary doctor, a dog catcher and an attender each will visit all 15 zones in the city and vaccinate 150 dogs a day. The drive will be done streetwise and dogs that have been vaccinated will be marked with a vegetable dye that will remain for a week or maximum 10 days”, said Dr. Kamal.

This drive is being done in addition to the stray dog neutering drive that is carried out by the GCC on a daily basis, with a target of 80 dogs a day.

“The dogs will be picked up for vaccination and released back into the same street the very same day. As per the October 2018 survey, there are about 57,000 stray dogs in the city”, said the officer.

The dogs will be released back into the streets after vaccination. Express Photo: Shivani Ramakrishnan

Vinod Kumar, the General Manager of Blue Cross of India, an animal shelter in Chennai welcomed the move and said, “Inoculating is a good move. Even if 70 per cent of stray dogs are vaccinated, it will be good since nobody knows when a stray dog that has rabies will bite.” He added that the proposal would enable the public to feel secure, given that cases of dog bites from stray dogs in the past have induced fear among people in Chennai.

Private veterinarian, Dr. Dhanapal said that while the move was a good decision on the part of the GCC, it would be ineffective if proper follow-ups were not done. “When any stray dog is vaccinated against rabies for the first time, two booster shots have to be given for both adult dogs and puppies for the vaccine to be effective. Moreover, the vaccines used by the GCC are made locally and they are not as effective as imported vaccines.”

While vaccinations and neutering are being carried out by the GCC at regular intervals, Dr. Kamal said that microchipping of stray dogs, which should ideally be the next step is not on the cards right now.