Animal birth control centre in Bommanahalli faces imminent closure

Bengaluru: The birth control centre for stray dogs in Bommanahalli is facing imminent closure, after the landlord urged the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to immediately vacate the premises.

The situation is similar to what happened in Mahadevapura Zone, where the landlord also gave notice to the BBMP to vacate the premises it had rented.

Though the two zones have the highest stray dog population, establishing permanent hospital-like facilities for the strays is proving to be a challenge.

The Revenue Department is also partially to blame for the prevailing situation. Despite sending multiple reminders and reaching out to various officials, including the Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner, the civic body has not received any response.

“We are not short of funds for sterilisation and vaccination,” said Dr KP Ravikumar, Joint Director (Animal Husbandry), BBMP.

“But our efforts to find the land to set up the Animal Birth Control (ABC) is not happening despite writing to the deputy commissioner, tahsildars and village accountant (VA),” he added, confirming the pressure on the BBMP to vacate the rented premises in Bommanahalli.

Recent survey

The recent BBMP survey revealed Mahadevapura as the zone with the highest stray dog count at 58,341, followed by RR Nagar with 41,266, and Bommanahalli with 39,183. Despite having facilities in other zones, the BBMP relied on rented buildings in Mahadevapura and Bommanahalli for sterilisation.

After the Mahadevapura facility's closure, the BBMP started sending dogs to Yelahanka for sterilisation, doubling the effort required.

Animal rights activist Ravi Narayanan hoped that higher officials would notice the BBMP’s struggles to find the land and would help create new facilities in both the zones.

"Having a centre for street dogs on BBMP land is always better as landlords do not like to rent their facilities for a large number of dogs. Unlike vaccinating the dog, which can be done on the spot, sterilisation is a long process and dogs need to be rested before being sent back to the streets,” he said.

The Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme, considered a humane solution to control the stray dog population and combat rabies, involves picking up, sterilising, vaccinating, and releasing dogs back onto the streets.

Though India’s rabies burden is high, only about 70% of Bengaluru's street dogs are vaccinated and sterilised annually.