Mumbai: Civic body initiates massive stray dog vaccination drive

After a one-year delay, on January 16, the BMC initiated its decennial stray dog and domestic animal census. File pic

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has vaccinated approximately 35,000 to 40,000 stray dogs since September as part of a large-scale initiative. Civic officials aim to vaccinate about one lakh strays over the next few months. "This effort is likely the first where a municipal corporation has initiated a dog vaccination drive on such a large scale," said Dr Kalimpasha Pathan, head of BMC's veterinary health department and the Deonar abattoir.

The vaccination drive is part of the deal between the BMC and Mission Rabies and Worldwide Veterinary Services signed in July. The vaccines are provided to BMC for free by multiple NGOs and Boehringer Ingelheim, a pharmaceutical company. The drive is restricted to the western suburbs where dog bite cases are high.

The city witnesses an average of 60,000 dog bite cases each year. In September, the BMC also placed Near Field Communication (NFC) tags on 300 to 400 strays containing details like gender, vaccination status, and pet status. "That was on an experimental basis. The tags were provided by some NGOs. Now, we are analysing their effectiveness and will accordingly decide," said Dr Pathan.

Meanwhile, after a one-year delay, on January 16, the BMC initiated its decennial stray dog and domestic animal census. The last census in 2014 revealed the city's stray population to be around 96,000, while officials now estimate this figure to have crossed more than 1.6 lakh. The BMC has partnered with the Humane Society International (HSI), the Youth Organisation in Defence of Animals, and Zimaxx Tech Solutions for the dog census.