While the big cities of India, Delhi and Mumbai are making headlines in dog cruelty, Bangalore the IT city of India is taking all positive measures in making itself canine rabies free.
The Bangalore Municipal Corporation (BBMP) has recently adopted a scientific method of vaccinating the stray dogs. It is using a mobile app which has been provided to them by the World Wide Veterinary Services an NGO for vaccinating the dogs. With this app they can easily keep a track of the vaccinated stray dogs. They have already conducted a pilot project in two areas: Herohalli and Nagarabhavi in the month of October and have successfully vaccinated 85% of the strays in just one month.
For getting the dogs vaccinated they are using at least five to six dog catchers who are helping the officials in getting the dogs caught and vaccinated. And then the veterinary inspector or other officials are taking their pictures and uploading them into the app with GPS coordinates right on the spot. To read more about this unique initiative kindly go on the link below:
https://www.deccanherald.com/amp/city/app-based-vaccination-to-cover-all-stray-dogs-919601.html
The process of getting the dogs caught by dog catchers is absolutely necessary for dogs who have no caregivers. But the dogs who are fed and taken care by the caregivers for them this entire process of first catching them by dog catchers and then getting them vaccinated is not only time consuming but also quite painful and stressful. For such dogs the help of the caregivers may be more beneficial. Also instead of taking pic of the dog and uploading it in the app they may issue a card to the caregiver mentioning the date of vaccination of the dog with his name on it so that when the vaccination of dog is again due next year then the caregiver himself may inform the corporation and get the dog revaccinated. Also the corporation may maintain a data of the caregivers in each area with the number of dogs each one takes care of. If possible the app too may create an option to input caregiver's detail.
A caregiver generally feeds around 5 to 10 dogs or may be more. So roping in caregivers will give the corporation better and quick results without much pain and stress to the dog. This will also motivate other residents to participate. People's participation is the key to success for both the ABC and the ARV program.
This is indeed a great initiative taken by the municipal corporation of Bangalore. This will not only make their city canine rabies free but also remove the fear of rabies from the minds of people. Hence, bring man and man's best friend closer to each other.
It's time municipal corporation of other cities of India too started with positive measures in eradicating canine rabies and making their cities canine friendly.
Municipal Corporation Commissioner
@BBMPCOMM