After euthanising thousands of dogs as a knee-jerk response to the death of two children and mulling over the stray dog issue in the City, the government along with the BBMP finally came to a consensus of implementing the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme a few months ago. But if what several citizens, animal activists and certain members of the Animal Welfare Organisations (AWOs) are saying is anything to go by, the ABC programme is merely an order on paper with relocation and killing of sterilised dogs still rampant in the City and the State.

“Since the programme began this year, stray dogs taken through the ABC programme are again picked up by private vehicles a few days after the operation claiming they are acting on complaints. When we probed into the matter, we realised there wasn’t any complaint registered,” says a resident of BTM Layout in whose area a private vehicle (KA 03 B 1795) picked up over 20 dogs last week but released them later when residents agreed to pay the driver.

All over the City

Similar activities are being reported by residents from other parts of the City. Last week, an animal activist received a call from residents of Cooke Town claiming strays in their neighbourhood were being picked up by a van (KA 04 6279) claiming to be working for the BBMP.

“The van had a mobile number that the residents passed on and I immediately called the number and asked the driver to wait for me. Meanwhile other activists and members of an AWO reached the spot.

Some of the dogs in the van were sterilised and when questioned repeatedly, the driver, Jayachandra, clearly stated (captured on video by Savitha, an animal welfare activist, who submitted a copy of it to this newspaper) that it was a private vehicle not authorised by the BBMP. He receives instructions from a medical health officer who sends them to pick up dogs,” said the activist.

“A complaint regarding the private vehicle was filed by us in the Frazer Town police station and the vehicle was seized but released a day later without any verification,” says Srinivas, an animal activist.

A resident of Rajarajeshwari Nagar who spotted yet another private vehicle (KA-02 9931) some weeks earlier, said, “When I stopped the vehicle and questioned the driver, he claimed to be working for Animal Rights Fund (ARF) but it turned out to be false.

And most dogs in the van were sterilised (as seen in the pic). Dogs picked up this way are released in another area or killed and dumped on the outskirts of the City. It’s common knowledge that relocating a dog is a major cause for increase in dog bites. But the BBMP’s arbitrary methods appears to suggest that their purpose is to increase dog bites!”

Action needed

The question is—Who is running these vehicles and is the BBMP aware of it? According to a few footages in the video, some medical health officers are aware of these vehicles and are instructing the drivers to pick up dogs on a regular basis. The NGOs allege that a senior official in the BBMP recently admitted to being aware of private vehicles plying in the City but did nothing to stop them.

When asked, BBMP Commissioner S Subramanya said he will take necessary action if such claims exist. “We will need to track down the vehicles, if any, find out who is running them. If officials from the BBMP are involved, they will be pulled up as well.” 








AUTHORISED BBMP VEHICLES

Below is a list of vehicle registration numbers, submitted by the BBMP to NGOs, that are authorised to catch dogs for the ABC programme implemented in the City. According to the NGOs and BBMP, apart from these vans, all other vehicles are unauthorised and should not be allowed to pick up dogs.

These private vehicles do not catch dogs for the ABC programme, instead release them in different parts of the City (again as stated by the driver of KA-04 6279 in the video, where he claims to have released dogs, picked up from another area sometime ago, in Koramangala) causing the ABC programme to go haywire.

If residents notice vehicles apart from the ones that are authorised, they can inform the NGOs on the same. CUPA: 22947300/301; ARF: 65733445; Karuna: 22224541.

List of numbers of vehicles designated for each NGO and the BBMP
BBMP — KA-01 893 and KA-01 895
CUPA — KA-01 894 and KA-01 6515
ARF — KA-01 A 6516 and KA-05 C 2237
Krupa — KA-01 A 3273 and KA-41 121
Karuna — KA-01 3272