A survey of stray dogs in Mumbai will be conducted in January 2024. Dog census is done every 10 years. Earlier, a dog census was conducted in 2014. Therefore, it will be possible to know whether the number of stray dogs has increased or decreased in the last 10 years.
Elderly citizens, children, and women are afraid to walk on the road day and night due to stray dogs. Dogs often attack pedestrians. In order to control the number of stray dogs, the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai had undertaken the Animal Birth Control Program i.e. sterilisation or sterilisation of stray dogs in 1994.
Currently, there is no calculation about the exact number of stray dogs in Mumbai. This calculation is done every 10 years and the concerned department of the Municipal Corporation has decided to count the dogs next year and applications have been invited from the interested organisations for the same. During this census, not only the number of dogs, but also how many males, how many females, whether they have been sterilised, whether they have been given rabies injection, will be collected.
The civic body has taken up the initiative for 'rabies free Mumbai'. A large-scale rabies vaccination campaign is proposed for February 2024 based on the earlier survey. Under this campaign, it is planned to give anti-rabies vaccine to around one lakh stray dogs in a period of only 10 days.
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365 dogs need to be sterilised every month
32k dogs in Mumbai need to be sterilised every year and 365 dogs need to be sterilised every month. According to the Animal Welfare Board of India, only 30% of the dogs are sterilised every year to control the dog population. Considering the number of dogs in Mumbai, 32k dogs need to be sterilised every year. But this calculation will be useful to determine whether the disinfection program launched by the Municipal Corporation was successful or not. Therefore, the next program of sterilisation of dogs can be decided.
According to a 2014 survey, there were around 95,000 stray dogs in Mumbai. It is estimated that the number has now reached around 1 lakh 64 thousand. An unsterilized female gives birth to four litters and these litters become fertile within a year. This number has been determined keeping in mind the breeding rate of dogs, death rate and sterilisation of stray dogs.
More stray dogs in Malad, Andheri
Meanwhile, Malad, Andheri, and Kurla area had the highest number of stray dogs in the 2014 census. The proportion of non-sterilised dogs and female dogs is also high in this section. Hence, there are likely to be more stray dogs in the area. But dogs often leave their territory and move to other territories where food is available.
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