ACT's unique initiative: First-time street dog census in Mangalore

Mangalore, Oct 26: For the first time in the city of Mangalore, a stray dog census has been launched by Animal Care Trust (ACT), an animal welfare association based in Mangalore, in order to keep a track of the population of street dogs in the city and for effective implementation of animal birth control measures.

Formed in 2000, ACT is an organisation that provides care and shelter for abandoned, injured and sick animals. The organisation is already actively involved in immunizing adopted animals and sterilizing stray ones.

Following the rains this year, the ACT has come forward and taken up the unique initiative of conducting a stray dog census in Mangalore. Members and volunteers of the organisation have begun the counting of street dogs in various wards of the Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) last month under the census programme.

The volunteers, under the guidance of Suma Nayak, a trustee of ACT, will continue to count the street dogs in different wards of the city corporation each week until all the wards are covered. The volunteers will also identify areas or wards where large packs of dogs habituate, along with the counting process, she said.

A devoted animal-lover, Suma opines that effective animal birth control measures were essential in checking the stray dog population and curbing the stray dog menace in the city. A proper census is necessary and beneficial in effective implementation of animal birth control measures. It will also serve as an important tool in controlling outbreaks of rabies among stray dogs, she said, adding that it would also become easier to identify places in the wards or neighbourhood which are prone to the menace of dogs.

Along with the efforts of ACT volunteers and dog-lovers, the co-operation of MCC is important in dealing with the dog menace in the city to identify dog-prone areas and reduce instances of children being mauled by street dogs, rather than looking at eliminating dogs as the solution, she said.

All dog-lovers and citizens are welcome to lend a hand to the organisation as volunteers in the census programme.