BMC to conduct survey of stray dog population in Mumbai

A fresh tender has already been floated to appoint a contractor for conducting the new survey. The responsibility of the contractors will include tracking stray dogs across all the 24 municipal wards in Mumbai and preparing a detailed report that will have all the biological records of the dogs, including their age, sex, and reproductive history, officials said.

Dr Kalimpasha Pathan, general manager of the Deonar Abattoir and head of the veterinary services in the BMC, said that the primary objective for initiating the survey is to create a database for stray dogs in Mumbai.

“The BMC has the data of pet dogs since it is mandatory for the owners to get their animals registered but we don’t have any concrete data about the strays in Mumbai. Therefore, this survey will give us exact data about the population of strays in Mumbai. Based on this data, we will carry out vaccination, sterilisation, and basic treatment of the strays in Mumbai,” Dr. Pathan told The Indian Express on Monday.

According to data from the civic body, around 95,172 stray dogs were reported in Mumbai in a 2014 report. Dr. Pathan also said that another objective is to implement birth control measures for the animals to ensure that the population of the strays is kept under check.

“Another primary objective is to make people aware of man-animal coexistence. We have already roped in private NGOs to carry out campaign programmes in schools to encourage the children about coexistence from their nascent age,” said Dr Pathan.