Stray dogs
In a letter to the chief minister, the activists claimed that maintaining a dog in a pound would cost Rs 3,035 per month, making it nearly 18 times more expensive than a one-time ABC sterilisation procedure costing Rs 2,000. The letter by Harini Raghavan and Nandita Subbarao pointed out that setting up a single large-scale pound could cost up to Rs 15 crore, while Greater Bengaluru Authority’s (GBA) entire annual citywide ABC budget was around Rs 9-10 crore. Citing 34 rabies deaths reported across Karnataka this year, the activists said Bengaluru’s GBA limits had recorded zero rabies deaths, which they attributed to the city’s ABC and ARV programmes.
You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Bengaluru | Silver Rate in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru | Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Petrol Price in Bengaluru | Diesel Price in Bengaluru | CNG Price in Bengaluru | LPG Price in Bengaluru Stay updated with the latest Bengaluru news. Bengaluru: City-based animal welfare activists have urged Karnataka govt to strengthen animal birth control (ABC) and anti-rabies vaccination (ARV) programmes instead of maintaining permanent dog pounds. They argued that investing in pounds would impose an avoidable recurring burden on taxpayers while diverting funds from more effective interventions. They urged govt to convert existing dog pounds into ABC clinics to increase sterilisation capacity and expand vaccination coverage. They also called on the GBA to optimise its existing ABC and ARV infrastructure instead of spending public money on building and maintaining permanent pounds. Download the TOI App.