stray dogs

The Karnataka government has of late been mulling a solution to the problem of stray dog attacks. Prabhu Chauhan, Minister for Animal Husbandry, has said they are considering making Bengaluru stray-dog-free through vaccination and sheltering. The Karnataka High Court has also issued a notice to the state government on a PIL seeking effective stray dog management. In this interview with Citizen Matters, animal ecologist and conservation biologist Dr Abi Tamim Vanak weighs in on the issue. Dr Abi Vanak holds a PhD in Wildlife Science from the University of Missouri, USA. He is currently a Professor at ATREE (Asoka Trust…

There’s no doubt that Bengaluru is one of the most pet-friendly cities in the country. Over the years, it has seen a large number of people come together to speak for the animals, especially dogs, and care for them beyond their capacities. The pandemic saw a new trend. More families welcomed new puppies to their homes during the lockdown. It gave them an opportunity to spend time with the puppies and train them to be a part of their families. This trend also saw a rise in pedigree puppies as most people fancied dogs that looked as good as they…

There is enough tragedy in the human lives lost due to accidents in India's roads. But there’s little guilt, and no penalties, when it comes to the many animals that suffer a similar fate. We believe that as non-humans, this is their fate, or that they deserve less. But whatever the individual attitude, it's necessary that human societies at large acknowledge such suffering endured by animals as important. So let's talk about how we can make this happen. Chutki. This beloved Cubbon Park puppy was killed in a hit-and-run at 4 pm on December 1. Not even 10 months old,…

On August 29, BBMP issued an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) on dealing with complaints on the killing of stray dogs. Following is an edited version of BBMP's press release. The killing of an animal by any method is illegal and is a cognisable offence under Sec 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, and Sec 428 of the Indian Penal Code. These laws provide for lodging of police complaints and filing of FIRs in such cases. So, if you have reason to suspect that the death of a stray dog is due to poisoning or killing, you…

In a first of its kind for Bengaluru, the BBMP on August 15 launched a holistic Rabies Prevention and Control Programme, targeted at 'Independence from Rabies'. After Goa, Bengaluru is now the second to have a Rabies Helpline in the country. The helpline +91 6364893322 was inaugurated by Mayor Goutham Kumar and BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad. The pick-up vans were flagged off by BBMP’s Special Commissioner (Animal Husbandry and Solid Waste Management) Randeep Dev. The helpline is expected to reduce the burden on Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres that have been attending to dog bite complaints, and have been counselling…

High Court considers scheduling hearings on BBMP's failures on Saturdays The Karnataka High Court's division bench of Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and SG Pandit criticised the BBMP's careless approach towards filling potholes.  The court criticised the BBMP than BBMP for failure to meet the target of filling potholes in 198 wards, and said the work would be handed over to other agencies capable of doing the job better. The 43 potholes brought to the judges notice during the last hearing were still present, said the counsel of the petitioners. The HC schedules are delayed due the proceedings on potholes and…

Three-month deadline for Bengaluru weddings to stop using plastic BBMP issued a notice on September 7th to marriage halls or kalyan mantapas, instructing them to stop using plastic material for functions, listing out all the alternative steps that may be taken to curb the plastic menace. The notice said that plate banks of steel, ceramic and melamine cutlery should be accumulated along with massive dishwashers to minimize wastage of water and maximise hygiene. Other recommendations include RO purifiers to supply drinking water, colour coded dustbins for segregation, avoidance of banana leaves that make segregation of wet-waste difficult, and setting up…

Pourakarmika kills self due to non-payment of salary for six months:  As many as 3,385 waste-pickers who had joined the BBMP's workforce recently and have less than one year experience with the civic body, did not receive salaries for the last six months. This allegedly led to Subramani, 37 year old resident of Vyalikaval, committing suicide on July 8th. BBMP has claimed to have released Rs 27 crore on July 10 subsequently to ensure that others are paid their dues and that such incidents do not recur. Meanwhile, the civic body is also planning on-ground verification of workers, because the list includes…

Thousands of dogs serve our country as part of the Indian Army, the Police, the Railway Police Force, CISF, etc. About 1,200 serve in just the Army. At VOSD (The Voice of Stray Dogs), we call them Patriot Dogs. We have been keeping these dogs discharged by the Karnataka, Kerala, and Railway Police Forces among others. Sandhya from Mangalore Police. Pic:VOSD Patriot Dogs are trained in various specialties like explosive detection, tracking down insurgents or terrorists, and mounting massive search-and-rescues. From the tender age of just two months, they serve our country through the prime of their lives - usually…

  Bengaluru this week February 19th 2016     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!     The important story of the week - on how there are no rules or regulations for water tankers that most apartments, especially those outside the core city area, are dependent on. Nobody monitors whether the water tankers are safe enough. What water are we drinking? Some good news after that shocker – plastic ban trending across the city. Koramangala, HSR Layout, Sanjay Nagar - who is next? We track the various citizen-led single-use plastic bans. And The Green Ogre…