Mumbai, Amid rising concerns over dog bites in Maharashtra, a senior Indian Administrative Service official on Thursday recommended non-invasive surgery like transvaginal laparoscopic ovariectomy to control the animal population, especially that of stray dogs.
Dr Ramaswami N, secretary with the state animal husbandry and dairy development department, said non-invasive laparoscopic procedures for animal birth control must be adopted to curb the rising stray dog population and rabies cases.
“We should find a technical solution. We could use transvaginal laparoscopic ovariectomy, as laparoscopy is widely used in humans for various diseases like pancreatic cancer,” Ramaswami said at a national symposium on ‘Role of Canine in One Health: Building partnership and resolving challenges’ in Nagpur.
He advocated training more veterinarians in such minimally invasive surgeries.
“Maharashtra has around 17 lakh stray dogs, with ward-level data available, and nearly 9.7 lakh dog bite incidents reported. The state is a major contributor to the country’s annual rabies toll of 18,000 to 20,000 deaths. More than 60 per cent of rabies fatalities are among children below 15 years of age,” he said.
Ramaswami said the major issue remains ineffective implementation of Animal Birth Control measures.
“I have analysed data in all the corporations. It is hardly 2-3 per cent and in some places it is 8 per cent. With this rate, we cannot control the growth of the stray dogs’ population,” he said.
Maharashtra, among the most urbanised states of the country, faces pressure of population growth, civic amenities and a large stray animal population, he said, adding Pune city and its peripheries alone account for around four lakh stray dogs.
He said traditional sterilisation surgeries require dogs to be admitted for four to five days, posing logistical challenges for smaller municipalities.
“It is a big task for small municipalities to admit a dog for 4-5 days after surgery in the traditional way of operating them. We tried with all mobile units but it involves lot of care in post operation period for the animal to recover. Compared to it, an alternative like laparoscopic surgery is appropriate but we need more and more trained surgeons. You just have to scale it up by training veterinary doctors. It is not rocket science,” he said.
Highlighting preventive steps, Ramaswami said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has approved 29 animal hospitals across all municipal corporations in the state.
Two multispecialty animal hospitals are being set up, one operational in Pune and another coming up at in Goregaon at a cost of ₹80 crore, he added, his remarks coming against the backdrop of concerns flagged in the Winter Session of the Assembly last December.
In a written reply, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had said Maharashtra recorded more than 30 lakh cases of dog bites in the last six years, while 30 people died of rabies between 2021 and 2023.
Shinde was responding to questions raised by MLAs across party lines over the rising stray dog population in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Kalyan-Dombivli etc. He had said there has been a significant increase in the number of stray dogs in both rural and urban areas.
Replying to another query, Shinde had said local bodies were directed to intensify animal birth control and anti-rabies vaccination programmes in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directions issued in August.
The Urban Development Department issued instructions to civic bodies on November 14, while similar directions were given to rural local bodies on November 27, he had said.
Shinde had informed the House that Animal Birth Control Rules 2023, are being implemented across the state following government orders issued in March.
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