As a civic body, the GHMC has been exclusively conducting the stray animal birth control (ABC) operations in Telangana, India. No NGOs are allowed to participate even though the ABC program is a public service run at the expense of the tax-payer (about 6 crore rupees / annum). The GHMC also pledges in it's own bye-laws (2007) to work every step of the way with volunteers and animal charities. Despite many written requests for providing animal shelter access to volunteers over the past 6 months, the Commissioner, Dr. Janardhan Reddy has failed to respond.

The staff in these 5 GHMC shelters flout every single animal welfare law of the land. They do not adhere to the ABC- SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) recommended by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), thus subjecting shelter animals to unimaginable cruelty. These shelters are overcrowded making them perpetual breeding grounds for distemper and parvo virus, to which many animals succumb. About a third of the shelter dogs constitute non- ABC dogs, such as pregnant, whelping mothers, sick animals and puppies. This is mainly done to appease the rich and the famous, who demand stray animal -free neighborhoods.

While the estimated stray dog population in the twin cities is around 5-6 lakhs, the GHMC claims to conduct about 1 lakh dog ABCs per annum (as stated in response to our RTIs). In reality however, the stray dog population is exploding on the streets. 

In view of reducing animal cruelty, maintaining transparency and reducing corruption, we demand immediate volunteer access to GHMC animal shelters like in Chennai and Visaka.