Bhopal’s dog control falters as centers face staff, resource crunch

With the number of stray dogs steadily rising in Bhopal, the need for large-scale sterilisation has become urgent. However, the city’s existing animal control centres are struggling to catch up, highlighting both the rapid growth of the stray dog population and a concerning increase in related attacks.

Animal Birth control centres are being run in Bhopal with the help of municipal corporations and NGOs. But due to the dispute between these two, the NGO has given up. Therefore, there is a shortage of veterinarians.

A total of three Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres are currently operating in Kararia, Adampur, and Kajlikheda. These centres sterilise approximately 20,000 stray dogs each year, keeping Bhopal's stray dog population somewhat in check. Managed in collaboration with NGOs, the centres have recently faced setbacks—most notably the withdrawal of an NGO from the Kajlikheda centre. In response, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) has temporarily assigned Dr. Saurabh from the Kararia Centre to oversee Kajlikheda as well.

Following this decision, animal welfare activists and pet lovers have raised concerns. They point out that both centres already have heavy workloads, and assigning one doctor to manage them is unfair and unsustainable. The move could lead to a drop in the quality of care, especially in areas like post-surgery recovery, and may even result in more dog deaths.

Dr. DP Singh, in charge of ABC centres under BMC, calls these concerns and questions baseless. He says that this arrangement is temporary so that sterilisation can be continued until the new system is implemented.

BMC has recently issued tenders for all three centres. The city is also planning to build six new centres. For this, a fund proposal of Rs 15.2 crore has already been sent to the Central Government. On this, Dr. Singh says that the final decision regarding these tenders and new centres will be taken during the online review on May 10.

Importance of Animal Birth Control Centre

The Veterinary Department of the Municipal Corporation has sent the proposal to the Central Government. But there is a big reason hidden behind this demand. Actually, according to the guidelines of the central government, there should be nine ABC centres in the city, but at present there are only three, of which two are managed by the same doctor. The number of stray dogs is increasing in Bhopal. When the weather changes, these dogs start attacking people. Therefore, it becomes necessary to control their population. 

As of early 2024, Bhopal has been experiencing a significant surge in dog bite incidents. In the first three months of the year, the city reported 6,728 cases, surpassing the total number in 2022. March alone saw 2,496 incidents, marking an 85-fold increase compared to the same month in 2022.

In a year, 20,000 stray dogs are being sterilised at all three centres. The total population of stray dogs is approximately 120,000. And out of these, 30 thousand are female street dogs. Which gives birth to around 6 babies at a time. In such a situation, if the pace of sterilisation is not increased, this number will double within a year, fear experts. Additionally, many dogs will struggle to find food for themselves. Controlling the number of dogs is therefore crucial.

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