Animal Welfare Board of India approves ABC centre in Thripunithura municipality in Kerala

The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has granted in-principle approval to the Animal Birth Control (ABC) centre set up by the Thripunithura municipality in Kerala which has been grappling with a growing stray dog menace.

Reportedly, AWBI has informed State Animal Husbandry department authorities that the municipality may operationalise its ABC centre and that formal written consent will follow shortly. Appointment letters will soon be issued to a veterinary surgeon, an operation theatre assistant, a dog handler, and a cleaning worker.

The centre, with 16 kennels, has the capacity to perform surgery on four to five stray dogs a day. Its surplus capacity, after attending to stray dogs, will also be made available for domestic dogs.

“The ABC centre’s building, located opposite the Hill Palace police station, was inaugurated in March, following which formalities to obtain AWBI’s approval were initiated. A team from the Animal Husbandry department inspected the centre in July and submitted a favourable report, which was subsequently forwarded to AWBI,” said municipal sources.

The centre was set up at a cost of over ₹20 lakh and will benefit from annual allocations as an ongoing project. An allocation of ₹8.50 lakh has been earmarked primarily for staff salaries and the procurement of medicines and equipment.

Residents of the temple town have repeatedly voiced concerns over stray dogs roaming the streets. On September 11, a holiday was declared for the Thripunithura Government Girls High School after the carcass of a stray dog was discovered on the campus. Officials from the Animal Husbandry department and the Thripunithura municipality then inspected the site.

After reports suggested the carcass was of a suspected rabid dog, the remaining dogs on the premises were captured and moved to an observation centre. It was learnt that the dogs had proliferated in the overgrown surroundings of an abandoned building on the campus.

V.P. Prasad, chairperson of the Thripunithura Rajanagari Union of Residents Associations (TRURA), said stray dogs continue to pose a threat across the town.

“Morning walkers have now become accustomed to the sight of stray dogs on the bridge over Andhakara Thodu along Market Road,” he said.