UD dept holds meeting to curb stray dog menace

LUCKNOW, Uttar Pradesh: Due to a rise in the number of complaints regarding stray dogs, the Department of Urban Development convened a high-level meeting on Tuesday to take note of the measures adopted by the local bodies to control and regulate the population of stray dogs.

During the meeting, only three pet shops were found to have proper registration certificates in Lucknow, Kanpur, Noida, Ghaziabad and Prayagraj. As per the mandate of the rules, all dog breeders and establishments engaged in the trade of pet animals has to have certification from the Animal Welfare Board of India.

Also, the sterilisation programme adopted by some municipal corporations has not achieved desired success as the NGOs engaged for this purpose are not providing correct information. So, the head of the municipal bodies has asked the NGOs to provide video proof of the operation and establish an ‘organ counting committee’ which will verify the numbers before the payment is released.

Amrit Abhijat, Principal Secretary of Department of Urban Development, said, “Municipal corporations have been directed to carry out a drive against unauthorised pet shops and dog breeders. Unless we know how many such establishments are active in the cities, it will not be easy to formulate the overall strategy.”