Animal birth control center in Bommanahalli to close soon
BENGALURU: A birth control center for street dogs in Bommanahalli is in danger of closure, as the owner has ordered the Bruhat Bengaluru Municipal Corporation (BBMP) to vacate the facilities immediately.
The situation is similar to what happened in Mahadevapura area, where the owner had informed the BBMP to vacate the area rented by him.
Although both regions have the largest population of street dogs, setting up permanent facilities like hospitals for street dogs is a challenge.
The Hacienda Department is also partly to blame for the actual situation. Despite sending several records and communicating with various authorities, including the Bengaluru Urban Sub-Commissioner body, the civic body has not received any response.
“We have no shortage of funds for sterilization and vaccination,” said Dr KP Ravikumar, assistant director (animal husbandry), BBMP.
“But our efforts to find land to set up Animal Birth Control (ABC) are not being carried out despite writing to commission assistants, tehsildars and village counters (VAs),” he confirmed. Pressure on BBMP to remove rented land. Location in Bommanahalli.
recent inquiries
A recent survey by BBMP revealed that Mahadevapura is the area with the highest number of street dogs with 58.341, followed by RR Nagar with 41.266 and Bommanahalli with 39.183. Despite having facilities in other areas, the BBMP depends on rented buildings in Mahadevapura and Bommanahalli for sterilization.
After the closure of the Mahadevapura facilities, BBMP started sending dogs to Yelahanka for sterilization, reiterating the necessary effort.
Animal rights activist Ravi Narayanan expressed hope that senior officials would be informed about BBMP’s difficulties in finding land and help would be provided in building new facilities in both areas.
Unlike dog vaccinations, which can be done spot on, sterilization is a longer process and dogs “need to be rested before sending them back onto the streets,” he said.
The Animal Birth Control (ABC) program, considered a humane solution to controlling street dog populations and combating rabies, involves collecting dogs, sterilizing, vaccinating, and releasing them back onto the streets .
Although the burden of rabies in India is high, only about 70% of Bengaluru’s street dogs are vaccinated and sterilized annually.
