Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
As the city is rapidly expanding in all directions, new residential areas are coming up, and along with this, the number of stray dogs is also increasing sharply. The Municipal Corporation’s Animal Husbandry Department claims that sterilisation of stray dogs is being carried out, yet their population does not seem to be coming under control. The state government has asked the Municipal Corporation to provide information on how many stray dogs are present in the city. Accordingly, the process of data collection has begun and is expected to be completed by the end of December, after which the figures will be submitted to the government.
The issue of stray dogs has troubled the city for several decades. Sterilisation is the only measure currently available with the Municipal Corporation, and it is not possible to permanently resolve the problem. It is estimated that there may be at least 50,000 to 70,000 stray dogs in the city, though an actual census has never been conducted.
Recently, the Supreme Court issued certain directives to all states. In connection with their implementation, the state government sought details of the stray dog population from the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation, which has now initiated the exercise. Chief animal husbandry officer Shaikh Shahed said that five to six organisations feed stray dogs across different parts of the city, and information is being collected from them. While some municipal bodies have sought more time to submit data, the local Municipal Corporation will submit its figures by the end of December, he said.