Minister KN Nehru says Tamil Nadu government will remove stray dogs; activists push back
Terming the directive 'excellent', Nehru, after inaugurating the Thayumanavar scheme said, 'Stray dogs have become a major problem, and the SC's verdict on removing the canines is a good opportunity for us (to do the same). Once we receive a copy of the order, we will implement it throughout Tamil Nadu,' he said.
The comments, however, have drawn flak from activists who said this was a way of covering up the failure of local bodies to bring the stray dog population under control despite spending several crores of rupees on animal birth control in the last 25 years.
Shruti Vinod Raj, an honorary member of the Tamil Nadu Animal Welfare Board, said the gaps in the number of Animal Birth Control surgeries are yet to be addressed. In Chennai corporation, for instance, where there are around 1.8 lakh stray dogs, as per the survey commissioned by the civic body, only around 27% have undergone birth control surgeries.
'If the sterilisation coverage is around 80%, the stray dog population will come down over a period of 5-10 years. I'm not against sheltering of dogs but it should be done in specific cases like aggressive dogs, mother and pups or old and abandoned dogs,' she said. Shruti added even in the present case of having to detain 1.8 lakh dogs requires a massive spending in terms of creating infrastructure and operations including staffing and food.
'When there is no action taken in increasing ABC coverage, against unregulated breeders and owners who abandon their dogs, why is there no accountability on the local bodies,' she asked. According to data available with the board, 245 dogs of various breeds alone have been abandoned in the last six months.
Activist E Martina said the order goes against the ABC Rules, 2023, which deem permanent relocation as cruelty. She said the implementation of the order would be impractical, noting Chennai alone has 1.8 lakh stray dogs but only five operational ABC centres.
'The government should focus on vaccination and population control,' she said.
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