Greater Chennai Corporation Launches Comprehensive Survey to Address Stray Dog Population and Health Concerns!
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), in collaboration with stakeholders, is planning to conduct thrice-per-ward surveys of the stray dog population across all 15 zones. This initiative aims to gather data on gender, sterilization, and health status of the dogs, facilitating future vaccination and sterilization efforts.
Dr. J Kamal Hussain, Veterinary Officer, GCC, stated, "Mapping for the survey has started in all zones. This initial stage will help identify routes for each ward, ensuring volunteers don`t cover the same area repeatedly." Previously, a similar survey and mass immunization were conducted in Royapuram (Zone 5), but the current focus is solely on the survey.
Ward boundaries have been shared with stakeholders to draw survey routes over the next 10 days, avoiding densely populated and agricultural areas. A one-day workshop for volunteers will cover survey details, ear notching, identifying lactating dogs, skin issues, and include a mock survey.
Dr. Karlette Anne Fernandes, Director of Companion Animal Management at Worldwide Veterinary Service, explained that the survey would clarify the sterilization status in each zone, allowing targeted efforts. An exclusive app has been developed to minimize human error, featuring multiple-choice questions for volunteers to record data.
Conducting the survey at night was considered but deemed impractical due to difficulty in gathering detailed information. The survey will be conducted three times over two months to ensure comprehensive data collection.
Residents have expressed concerns over the increasing stray dog population, citing safety and health risks, particularly the potential for rabies outbreaks. "The rise in stray dogs is worrying, especially for children walking to school," said R. Velmurugan of Velachery.
This initiative by the GCC aims to address these concerns by providing accurate data to inform future actions.
