City NGO extends anti-rabies drive to PMC pounds

Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) recently gave an official authorization to ResQ Charitable Trust (RESQCT), a city-based non-governmental organisation, to vaccinate the stray dogs caught for sterilization against rabies and then collar them for identification.

Earlier, the NGO had sought permission to voluntarily provide high-quality anti-rabies vaccinations (ARV) with three-year efficacy — free of cost — and to affix a colour-coded and riveted “rabies collar” to every street dog that is caught for surgery under the PMC’s Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme. The Naidu pound and the Blue Cross pound are the two ABC centres in the city.

Fiyana Elavia, the RESQ centre director, said the anti-rabies vaccination and collaring work that the NGO is engaged in is not currently funded by the PMC. “But, it is something that is strongly needed because an identifiable vaccinated dog provides a sense of security, especially in times when we have a dog population control issue in our city,” she said.

“The city’s dog issues — whether population or disease control — require a tightly-controlled and multi-pronged approach involving sterilization, mass anti-rabies vaccination, centralized dog catching system, initiating a ‘City Animal Portal’ (for easy registration, complaints and inspections) and improving the garbage disposal mechanism. “If these systems are put into motion effectively, the PMC will not even have to put aside a special budget for the ABC programme as it has been doing all these years,” said Neha Panchamiya, the president of RESQCT.

She added the ABC programme currently does not target dogs with the highest fertility rate and thus the results are not visible. “We have provided the PMC health department with progressive solutions and are hoping they would be adopted to reduce the human-animal conflict in the city,” said Panchamiya.

Tuhin Satarkar, the rescues head at RESQCT, said since January 2018, RESQ has independently vaccinated against rabies and collared a total of 7,138 dogs on the streets of Pune. “This activity will not only benefit animals but also the citizens. For the PMC’s ABC ‘Extended Programme’ from May 21 this year, 525 dogs have been vaccinated and collared by RESQ,” he added.