Bengaluru: Amid growing public concern over the surge in stray dog attacks and unchecked rise in the city’s canine population, Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has rolled out an intensified sterilisation and vaccination drive across its zonal corporations, acting on Supreme Court’s recent directives on animal welfare. The initiative aims to intensify Animal Birth Control (ABC) and Anti-Rabies Vaccination (ARV) operations, while ensuring humane treatment and relocation of strays from public spaces such as schools, hospitals, bus stations and playgrounds.Reviewing progress of the animal welfare department and compliance with the apex court directives on street dog management Tuesday, Bengaluru West city corporation commissioner KV Rajendra instructed officials to scale up the programme’s capacity and align with Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) standards. He urged officials to accelerate sterilisation drives, simplify tender processes to bring in more service providers and clear pending payments to agencies. He also emphasised promoting adoption of long-term sheltered dogs and setting up designated feeding zones for community animals.According to chief veterinary officer Dr Venkatesh, Bengaluru west zone alone has around 63,340 community dogs and operates two ABC–ARV centres, each accommodating 171 dogs. “So far, 4,068 dogs have been sterilised and 27,581 vaccinated against rabies and other diseases,” he said, adding that adequate stocks of anti-rabies vaccines are available for public use.Parallel efforts are being rolled out in Bengaluru south and central zones. Bangalore South city commissioner KN Ramesh said teams have begun mapping schools, hospitals, bus stands and sports grounds to identify stray-dense areas. “These dogs will be picked up, vaccinated, sterilised and housed in designated shelters in accordance with the court’s order,” he explained.Similarly, central zone commissioner Rajendra Cholan directed officials to enumerate stray dogs, identify sterilisation centres and coordinate with NGOs for post-operative care and shelter management. Joint teams comprising NGO workers and civic health, veterinary and engineering staff will implement the drive in a time-bound manner, he added.The initiative follows a spate of citizen complaints and recent stray dog attacks, including two bite cases reported last week and the death of a senior citizen a couple of months ago. Officials said the intensified campaign aims to ensure public safety while adhering to humane animal welfare norms. “Public cooperation is essential,” a senior civic officer said, adding, “This is not just about controlling numbers, but creating a safer and more compassionate city.“
