Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will conduct a citywide stray dog census across all 67 wards from Wednesday.
BMC officials said 410 teams, led by expert veterinarians and civic officials, will carry out the survey in two phases using scientific methods, as part of the civic body’s plan to roll out an effective animal birth control (ABC) drive to contain the canine population in the city.
“A total of 410 teams comprising veterinary experts, ward officers, Swachh Sathis, sanitation workers, supervisors and other BMC officials will be engaged for the task. To ensure accuracy, a special training programme has been launched by the corporation for the teams in all three zones of the city,” said BMC deputy commissioner N Ganesh Babu.
The first phase of the census will start on September 17 and continue till September 20, while the second phase will commence from September 21 and continue till September 24. The BMC has planned to conduct the exercise in the early morning hours, between 5 am and 7 am, citing that the street dogs are more visible in localities during that time.
Babu said, as part of the exercise, multiple routes across all 67 wards have been identified and further divided into different lanes. The teams will visit each lanes and carry out the census.
They will also find out the number of dogs already sterilised and those still left. Around 6,000 to 7,000 dogs have already been sterilised in the past and they have been tagged with a mark for their easy identification, the BMC officer said.
BMC authorities, meanwhile, said the main objectives of the dog census are to count the total number of street dogs, assess their density in BMC area and frame an effective strategy for their control and management. “The census will help us in reducing dog bite cases, preventing disease transmission such as rabies and leptospirosis, addressing barking nuisances and road accidents among others,” they added.
The corporation will also be able the assess the need of shelters and make adequate provisions in this regard, the officials added.
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