14 October,2021 07:50 PM IST | Mumbai | Prajakta Kasale
This picture has been used for representational purpose
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) observed a fortnight for public awareness as well as for rabies prevention vaccination between September 28 to October 13. The civic body ran a vaccination programme every day between 8 am to 2 pm and 3,493 stray dogs were vaccinated. Rabies Day is celebrated around the world on September 28.
Mumbai witnesses around 85,000 dog bite every year. As per the census of dogs in 2014, there were 95,174 of them in 2014 and 25,935 were found un-sterilised. Of the un-sterilised ones, 14,674 were male and 11,261 were female. "An un-sterilised female dog can give birth to at least four puppies and they become fertile within a year. Thus the number of dogs has increased continuously. It is estimated that there are between 2 to 2.25 lakh dogs in the city," said an official from the BMC.
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The vaccination campaign was initiated by the Department of Veterinary Health of the BMC in collaboration with NGOs. Two teams of Veterinary Health Department consisted of Municipal Veterinary Officers and Para Veterinary Staff for catching dogs. Various NGOs including The Welfare of Stray Dogs, Utkarsh Global Foundation, In Defense of Animals, Mumbai Animals Association and Pet Owners and Animal Lover Foundation contributed to the campaign. Vehicles were also provided by the corporation's transport department to catch the dogs, said Dr KA Pathan, general manager of the veterinary health department. He appealed to the citizens who have pets at home, to get their dogs vaccinated against rabies once a year.
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From 2014 to 2019, BMC sterilised 90,703 dogs at a cost of Rs 9 crore. Despite the huge number, dog bites did not reduce. The civic body also procured 90,000 rabies vaccines costing R231 per unit at a total cost of Rs 2.07 crore in 2020. They are available at 101 Anti-Rabies Vaccine (ARV) centres across the city.
