App-based vaccination to cover all stray dogs

Moving away from the complaint-based rabies vaccination programme, the BBMP has adopted the scientific method of vaccinating the strays.

Using the mobile app provided by the NGO World Wide Veterinary Services, the civic body can map the vaccinated strays. It conducted a pilot project in Herohalli and Nagarabhavi in October and managed to vaccinate 85% of the strays in a month.

Dr C Lakshminarayana, Joint Director, Animal Husbandry, BBMP, said that they vaccinated 1,537 dogs in Herohalli and 413 in Nagarabhavi, besides 121 strays in Binnypet.

“The process is not time-bound as the area of the ward, the number of dogs mapped and difficulty in catching dogs, especially in open areas, need to be kept in mind,” he explained.

He pointed out that the stray dog census conducted through the WWVS app in 2019 November to enable the mapping process helped the officials in estimating the number of dogs in both wards. “A vaccinated dog will be marked with a coloured dye to avoid vaccinating the same dog twice. The dye is waterproof and lasts for four to six months. Unless all the dogs are vaccinated, we will not move to the next ward,” Dr Lakshminarayana said.

Dr S Shashikumar, the previous joint director, said a systematic approach had helped them vaccinate more dogs in the two wards.

Contractors working on ABC and ARV programmes in each zone will be drafted in for the new project. Vehicles used for the project will have at least five to six dog catchers who will help officials vaccinate the strays. The veterinary inspector or other officials will take pictures of the dogs and upload them into the app with GPS coordinates on the spot.