There are caregivers in Delhi NCR who are not waiting for the municipal corporation or the government to work on the ABC programme. The bitter truth is that the municipality in the area of Ghaziabad is not active in implementing the ABC programme instead they are more active in making policies on how to impose fine on dog feeders and pet owners for feeding dogs and for not cleaning dog poop. Recently they had come out with a proposal to impose a registration fee of Rs. 5000 for dog owners. For a country like India where already pet keeping is negligible such policies will only discourage people from keeping dogs as pets.  And imposing fine on dog feeders will lead to withdrawal of dog feeders from feeding and this will ultimately lead to death of stray dogs from starvation. What an easy and economical way to get rid of the stray dog population. Very inhuman and unethical solution by the policymakers.

But inspite of all these odds the caregivers of the area have not given up.  They are doing Sterilization of stray dogs of their area without any support or help from the government. 

Vandana (resident of Vaishali)

(M- 9718118999)

Poornima (resident of Vasundhara)

(M- 9953020400)

Vandana and Poornima have  been doing Sterilization and vaccination of dogs in their respective areas for  the last 10 years. Till now they have got around 3000 dogs sterilized.  Two years back they used to take the help of Friendicoes (Sterilization centre in Delhi). They used to call their van and get all the dogs of their area picked for Sterilization. But for the last two years boundaries have been drawn between Delhi and Ghaziabad. No van from Delhi can go to Ghaziabad as it falls in the state of Uttar Pradesh and vice versa. Very unfortunate decision for people like Vandana and Poornima.

Anyhow this hasn't deterred them from  getting the dogs sterilized. Today they catch the dogs themselves without the help of a professional catcher and drop them at Friendicoes Sterilization centre in Delhi (East Delhi area which shares boundary with Ghaziabad). And post Sterilization they  pick the dogs back.

Also heartfelt thanks to Friendicoes who has not only been helping the East Delhi caregivers in getting the dogs sterilized but also helping caregivers like Vandana and Poornima from other state in getting their dogs sterilized and vaccinated. 

Imagine if Friendicoes was not there or all the NGOs who run Sterilization are shut down then what will happen to the ABC programme? 

If the political leaders (mayors, councillors, ministers etc across India) had the correct understanding of the ABC programme and the benefits it has in controlling dog population and in eradicating canine rabies from India then they would probably not be wasting their time in drafting absurd and useless policies on pet dog registration and fines on dog feeders. Instead they would have opened centres for Sterilization in their areas and encouraged dog feeders of their area in helping the dogs picked for Sterilization. 

It's really sad that India has politicians but there is dearth of visionaries.