Kochi: The city corporation has prepared a draft of an action plan for a month-long anti-rabies vaccination drive.
The civic body conducted a similar campaign last year too.
Mayor V K Minimol said the drive was focused on areas where stray dogs are in large numbers. “The rising temperatures will lead to spiralling rabies cases and we need to hold a vaccination drive before summer starts,” she said. The corporation will implement the drive with the support of NGOs that will extend the services of dog handlers to capture the dogs.
Meanwhile, the animal birth control (ABC) centre at Brahmapuram has landed in controversy over the death of around 20 stray dogs, including puppies, and the haphazard handling of sterilised dogs captured from the city recently. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Kochi | Silver Rate in Kochi | Bank Holidays in Kochi | Public Holidays in Kochi Stay updated with the latest Kochi news.
A health officer said the local body had earmarked funds in the plan fund for the vaccination drive and the campaign will be conducted every year. When I received a call from Menaka Gandhi’s office, I informed them about the development,” Minimol said. The draft of the project will soon be finalised. The mayor had received a call from the office of the NGO run by former Union minister Menaka Gandhi. “The puppies captured from Kerala High Court premises had infections. The puppies should not have been brought to the ABC centre where large dogs are lodged for sterilization. When puppies are brought to such big centres, they wouldn’t be able to survive infections. A dog, captured from Palarivattom, was brought to the ABC centre and kept in isolation for observation. When the dog died two days later, no autopsy was conducted to confirm whether it was infected with rabies. Instead, the staff at the centre buried the carcass the next morning. Download the TOI App.
Had I been informed earlier, I wouldn’t have allowed the puppies to be brought to Brahmapuram.