Palike dogged by pedigree menace

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike dogged by stray menace is now faced with pedigree dogs straying on the streets.

Pedigree dogs with parents of Labrador, Pomeranian, German Shepherd, Greyhound and many other most sought-after high breed canines could be spotted rummaging through the garbage heaps in the City.

The pedigree dogs in the City, which are keeping the canine population up, pose a big challenge to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme.

At Uttarahalli, one can find a cross-bred black Labrador and in JP Nagar near Banashankari Junction a German Shepherd straying on the road. These are not typical instances of high breed canines on the loose, if Dr Parviz Ahmad Piran, Joint Director, Animal Husbandry Department, BBMP, is to be believed.

“At least one per cent of the total stray dog population in the City is of high breed,” said Dr Piran.

The Palike officials blamed the pet dogs for the increasing dog population. It has been noticed that many high breed dogs are getting crossed with the local varieties and give birth to cross-breed dogs. As dogs give birth to at least 12 to 16 pups in a year, the owners who sometimes don’t find buyers, let the puppies on the streets.

Common scene

“High breed dogs becoming stray animals is a common scene. The challenge from some of these high-breed varieties is that at times they can be ferocious, particularly the German Shepherd,” Dr Piran said.

Now, the Palike has come out with a pet licensing policy, which insists for ‘one flat-one dog’ of approved breed. However, the policy is awaiting the Palike Council’s nod.

Of the four lakh to 4.5 lakh dogs in the City about three lakh are supposed to be strays.

In the last two years, the BBMP sterlised nearly one lakh dogs, of which 69,141 were spayed in 2010-11 alone.

The Palike’s animal husbandry department has rolled out a number of packages under the ABC programme and has asked the contractors to check cruelty against dogs, intensify the drive by increasing the target to one lakh dogs for spaying. It has also hired a fleet of vehicles and dog catching kits.