Latest news with #WVS
The Hindu
12-07-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Kochi Corporation banking on six additional trained dog catchers to be allotted to improve the functioning of ABC unit
The Kochi Corporation remains hopeful of further improving the functioning of its Animal Birth Control (ABC) unit at Brahmapuram with the Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) assuring to make available the service of six well-trained dog catchers under its 'Mission Rabies' campaign by the middle of next month. The Corporation will have to bear their expenses though. WVS has one of the country's best facilities for producing trained and certified dog catchers in Goa and Ootty. At present, the ABC unit has five dog catchers who have been with the unit for long and also double up as animal handlers effectively impacting their dog catching service. 'We have been finding it very hard to find fresh recruits as dog catchers since it is basically a job that is looked down up on and demands immense physical exertion. We have been paying our existing catchers 21,000 as monthly salary plus other benefits like Provident Fund and ESI,' said a health official with the Corporation. Meanwhile, the Corporation has also tied up with WVS for a month-long campaign under the 'Mission Rabies' campaign to vaccinate 10,000 strays in the city limits starting next month. WVS experts will associate the Corporation's dog catchers for the campaign. Though WVS has been running projects in association with local bodies across the country, this is for the first time that the Corporation is associating with it. The ABC unit is also banking on the imminent arrival of two more vehicles, which BPCL-Kochi Refinery has agreed to fund, thus increasing the vehicle fleet of the unit to three. The company has also agreed to sponsor a kennel facility for accommodating an additional 40 stray dogs. The ABC unit now has a kennel facility for 40 dogs. The sterilisation of strays at the ABC unit has increased to between eight and 12 dogs a day over the last one-and-a-half month with the addition to two vet surgeons. Besides, there are two para vet staff. The focus is on sterilising female dogs since that alone helps to check the proliferation of dogs. While male dogs are released two days after the operation, it takes up to three days, and even five days in the event of any complications, before the female dogs are released. Also, the Corporation has started awareness classes in schools and colleges on how to deal with stray dogs considering that students are among the most vulnerable sections.
Gulf Insider
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Insider
"It's Not A Human Right To Live In Sweden" - New Integration Minister Calls For Migrant Values Survey
Sweden's new Minister for Education and Integration, Simona Mohamsson, says it's time to stop relying on gut feelings and start using facts when it comes to integration. The new Liberals leader called for plans to map immigrants' values, to find out where many sit on cultural issues that may not align with those held by native Swedes. 'It is not a human right to live in Sweden,' she said in a recent interview with Dagens Nyheter. The government has asked the World Values Survey (WVS), a global research group, to study how immigrants' views compare with those of people born in Sweden. Mohamsson says it's about time Sweden looked at hard data instead of assumptions. 'For too long, integration has been based on gut feeling and guesswork,' she said. 'With real facts, we can finally talk clearly about Swedish values and take proper action on integration.' Mohamsson pointed out that Sweden is very different from many countries when it comes to things like religion, gender equality, and family roles. 'We're an extreme country in a good way,' she said. 'People coming here can find it hard to understand how our society works.' Mohamsson said the results could lead to changes in schools, civic classes, or language courses for migrants. Past surveys have shown that many migrants arrive in Sweden with very different views on topics like divorce, premarital sex, abortion, and homosexuality. Over time, those views tend to shift — after about 10 years, migrants' values start to resemble those of Swedes. But Mohamsson says that's too slow. 'Ten years is way too long,' she said. 'That's an entire generation of girls who can't choose who they love or boys who can't come out.' 'This isn't about forcing people to change what they think. It's about making sure everyone respects the core values we have in Sweden,' she said. 'It would be strange to say some people don't need to follow those values.' However, some political parties — especially the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, who prop up the current government — consider this approach to be far too soft. They argue that Sweden has already waited too long to tackle cultural clashes and that surveys and gradual changes are not enough. Instead, they demand tough measures, including deportations or stricter immigration controls for migrants who do not accept Swedish and Western values. The Sweden Democrats recently announced they will campaign in the 2026 general election on a pledge to stop migration to the country. 'Sweden's safety must come first — even when it conflicts with the right of asylum,' its party leader, Jimmie Åkesson, wrote in May. Their concerns have gained traction amid growing unrest across Sweden. Migrant gang violence has reached record levels, with deadly shootings, bombings, and grenade attacks now at an all-time high. Police regularly report surging conflicts between criminal groups, and some neighborhoods in major cities are now described as no-go zones for locals after dark. Even the Moderate Party, which leads the current government, has begun increasing its remigration efforts and pushing for higher income thresholds for prospective migrants, in part due to mounting pressure from the Sweden Democrats and growing public frustration over crime and integration failures. Mohamsson wants to portray her party as one that understands these concerns, stressing that people who move to Sweden have a duty to try to fit in. 'It's not a human right to live in Sweden,' she repeated. 'This isn't about opinions — it's about finding out which values clash with Swedish ones.' This is one of Mohamsson's first big interviews since becoming both integration minister and leader of the Liberals. She admitted her views have changed over time — she used to oppose her party's shift to the right, but now she's a minister in a government supported by the Sweden Democrats. Asked about this, she said, 'Yeah, I've changed my mind since I first got into politics 15 years ago. When it comes to problems in schools and integration, I think the best way to fix them is through the cooperation we have now.' Despite the current government's hardline rhetoric on migration, 60,000 foreigners still received Swedish citizenship in 2023.
Time of India
23-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Coimbatore corporation launches Mission Rabies to wipe out the disease
Coimbatore: A census carried out in 2022 claimed that the city municipal corporation has a population of 1.11 lakh stray dogs. Can all the stray dogs in the city be vaccinated for rabies? The city municipal corporation says that its main objective is to carry out mass vaccination of dogs for rabies through 'Mission Rabies'. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Mission Rabies is a global initiative by Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) focused on eliminating dog-mediated rabies through mass dog vaccination, community education, and rabies surveillance. In India, Mission Rabies has been working since 2013, and Goa has been successfully implementing the project for more than a decade to control rabies. "We used NGOs to conduct the census on the stray dog population in all five zones in the corporation, and the census showed that the city has 1.11 lakh stray dogs. It is a huge population. We have decided to implement the Mission Rabies initiative. We started the initiative at Race Course two months ago. Our aim is to cover all the stray dogs by conducting a mass dog vaccination programme," city corporation commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran said. The city corporation plans to launch a hotline exclusively to report rabies-related cases if the public suspects that stray dogs or pet dogs are infected with rabies. Based on the information, mapping will be carried out by a team. "After completing the mass dog vaccination for stray dogs in the five zones of the municipal corporation, we are planning door-to-door vaccination for pet animals, including dogs and cats, to prevent rabies," Sivaguru Prabakaran said. To control the population of stray dogs, the corporation has been implementing sterilisation at the four Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres located at Ukkadam, Ondipudur, Seeranaickenpalayam, and Vellalore. "We believe that through sterilisation, the stray dogs' population can be reduced drastically in the future. So, we are planning to open three more ABC centres in the city," he added. The corporation also claimed that approximately 25,000 stray dogs were sterilised out of 1.11 lakh stray dogs since 2023.
Time of India
13-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Bites up, but dog count dips in corpn survey
Madurai: Amid growing complaints of stray dog menace, and dog bite casing hitting a seven-year high in the city, the latest scientific census by Madurai corporation has pegged stray dog population at 38,348, significantly lower than previous estimates. An RTI reply had in 2021 placed the number at 53,826 in 2020, while a 2012 survey had recorded 47,573 dogs. Dog bite cases within corporation limits reached 14,130 by Nov 2024, the highest since 2018, pointing to the urgent need for effective stray management. Corporation officials, however, insist that the March 2025 enumeration is the most accurate to date, as it was conducted using scientific methods in collaboration with Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) and animal welfare NGO Seeshah's Kennel Foundation. The new figure for Madurai is also lower than that of Trichy corporation, which recently published a 2025 survey placing its stray dog population at 43,767. City health officer (CHO) P Indhira told TOI that Madurai's survey was carried out in all 100 wards covering five city zones. The initial groundwork and mapping were done between March 5 and 14, after which 200 student volunteers and corporation staff were trained for field enumeration. From March 17 to 23, around 300 surveys were conducted, with data collected from an average of 31% of roads in each ward. The methodology included sampling, grid mapping, training of enumerators, and multi-stage data collection. "We have done a proper survey and this is the most scientific survey. The dog count may have decreased after Covid pandemic due to decrease in number of feeders," said the demographic breakdown revealed that 15% of the dogs were puppies (under three months), and 85% adults. Among the adults, 83% were aged over one year, and 17% were juveniles between 4 and 11 months. Male dogs accounted for 65% of the population and females, 35%, with 36% of the female dogs observed to be lactating. About 83% of the stray dogs were found to be healthy, while the remaining 17% suffered from injuries, skin infections, or other visible corporation has now announced plans to intensify sterilization and population control efforts at hotspots. Officials say the data will guide the future rollout of Animal Birth Control (ABC) and Anti-Rabies Vaccination (ARV) programmes across the city.
