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Time of India
5 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
Coimbatore corporation launches Mission Rabies to wipe out the disease
Coimbatore: A census carried out in 2022 claimed that the city municipal corporation has a population of 1.11 lakh stray dogs. Can all the stray dogs in the city be vaccinated for rabies? The city municipal corporation says that its main objective is to carry out mass vaccination of dogs for rabies through 'Mission Rabies'. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Mission Rabies is a global initiative by Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) focused on eliminating dog-mediated rabies through mass dog vaccination, community education, and rabies surveillance. In India, Mission Rabies has been working since 2013, and Goa has been successfully implementing the project for more than a decade to control rabies. "We used NGOs to conduct the census on the stray dog population in all five zones in the corporation, and the census showed that the city has 1.11 lakh stray dogs. It is a huge population. We have decided to implement the Mission Rabies initiative. We started the initiative at Race Course two months ago. Our aim is to cover all the stray dogs by conducting a mass dog vaccination programme," city corporation commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran said. The city corporation plans to launch a hotline exclusively to report rabies-related cases if the public suspects that stray dogs or pet dogs are infected with rabies. Based on the information, mapping will be carried out by a team. "After completing the mass dog vaccination for stray dogs in the five zones of the municipal corporation, we are planning door-to-door vaccination for pet animals, including dogs and cats, to prevent rabies," Sivaguru Prabakaran said. To control the population of stray dogs, the corporation has been implementing sterilisation at the four Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres located at Ukkadam, Ondipudur, Seeranaickenpalayam, and Vellalore. "We believe that through sterilisation, the stray dogs' population can be reduced drastically in the future. So, we are planning to open three more ABC centres in the city," he added. The corporation also claimed that approximately 25,000 stray dogs were sterilised out of 1.11 lakh stray dogs since 2023.
Time of India
13-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Bites up, but dog count dips in corpn survey
Madurai: Amid growing complaints of stray dog menace, and dog bite casing hitting a seven-year high in the city, the latest scientific census by Madurai corporation has pegged stray dog population at 38,348, significantly lower than previous estimates. An RTI reply had in 2021 placed the number at 53,826 in 2020, while a 2012 survey had recorded 47,573 dogs. Dog bite cases within corporation limits reached 14,130 by Nov 2024, the highest since 2018, pointing to the urgent need for effective stray management. Corporation officials, however, insist that the March 2025 enumeration is the most accurate to date, as it was conducted using scientific methods in collaboration with Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) and animal welfare NGO Seeshah's Kennel Foundation. The new figure for Madurai is also lower than that of Trichy corporation, which recently published a 2025 survey placing its stray dog population at 43,767. City health officer (CHO) P Indhira told TOI that Madurai's survey was carried out in all 100 wards covering five city zones. The initial groundwork and mapping were done between March 5 and 14, after which 200 student volunteers and corporation staff were trained for field enumeration. From March 17 to 23, around 300 surveys were conducted, with data collected from an average of 31% of roads in each ward. The methodology included sampling, grid mapping, training of enumerators, and multi-stage data collection. "We have done a proper survey and this is the most scientific survey. The dog count may have decreased after Covid pandemic due to decrease in number of feeders," said the demographic breakdown revealed that 15% of the dogs were puppies (under three months), and 85% adults. Among the adults, 83% were aged over one year, and 17% were juveniles between 4 and 11 months. Male dogs accounted for 65% of the population and females, 35%, with 36% of the female dogs observed to be lactating. About 83% of the stray dogs were found to be healthy, while the remaining 17% suffered from injuries, skin infections, or other visible corporation has now announced plans to intensify sterilization and population control efforts at hotspots. Officials say the data will guide the future rollout of Animal Birth Control (ABC) and Anti-Rabies Vaccination (ARV) programmes across the city.
