Beginning of the END for stray dog menace

Barking dogs chasing two-wheeler-riders, pedestrians, joggers and hawkers will be a thing of the past when  the Animal Husbandry Department implements a new project titled Early Neutering in Dogs (END) soon.

The project aims at sterilising the canines prior to their puberty. This will bring  down drastically the population of stray dogs in a few years’ time.

“Earlier, the state government had initiated a slew of special drives for sterilisation and immunisation of  stray dogs. But the special drives didn’t produce the desired result,” said assistant professor M K Narayanan who is the principal investigator of the department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology at the College of Veterinary and Animal Science here.

In the traditional approach, the authorities have to wait until dogs and cats reach the age of at least six months for the surgical sterilisation. But the early neutering programme envisages the sterilisation of stray dogs a few weeks after their birth, said Narayanan who is also the in-charge of the END programme.

The surgical techniques used for castrating and spaying young pups and kittens are very similar or identical to those being administered on adults.

The trained vets spay the female pups by cutting the tubes of ovaries and the uterus. They neuterise the male canines by removing the veins connecting both testicles. These surgeries pose minimal risks to the animal, he said.

The authorities can use this less painful surgery technique to check the stray dog menace with the help of the local self-government institutions, self-help groups, resident associations, NGOs, hospital development committees, animal rights activists and various government agencies, said the University Veterinary Hospital officials here.

Thrissur Corporation Mayor I P Paul said that if the project is tested positive in checking the stray dog menace, the corporation would definitely implement it with the help of various agencies.

“The sterilisation and vaccination haven’t been effective as we don’t get enough trained people to catch mature dogs. Besides, large-scale euthanasia of the aggressive animals is not admissible for a civilised society. Hence we have to promote non-lethal practices like the END to control the stray dog menace,” said Najeeb, an animal rights activist here.