Goa considers identifying land for stray dog shelters

Panaji: State govt is exploring options to identify govt land to set up dedicated shelters for stray dogs in Goa. Minister for animal husbandry and veterinary services (AHVS), Nilkanth Harlankar, shed light on govt’s plan to implement the Supreme Court directive on the relocation of stray dogs.

“The Supreme Court order states that stray dogs can be relocated after vaccination into a shelter. In the interest of the people, we have to see how best we can implement this order,” Harlankar told TOI.Acknowledging the logistical challenges, he said that it would not be feasible to relocate all stray dogs at once. “We will therefore identify those dogs that were found aggressive and place them in the shelters,” he said.

Harlankar also stressed the need for providing comprehensive care within these shelters.“The relocated dogs need to be taken care of in the shelters to ensure that they get good food, medication, and vaccination. We also need to take care of dog behaviour among aggressive dogs,” he said. Govt plans to draw on existing frameworks used in the management of stray cattle at goushalas in order to implement the dog shelter system.

“We already have a system in place for stray cattle. The same model can be replicated for stray dogs,” he said.He further said that dog feeders, who regularly provide food to stray dogs, will be asked to update the AHVS department about their feeding activities to assist the authorities in tracking dog populations. “Dogs are territorial, and feeders can help us identify the population,” he said. The AHVS has already formed a task force to manage stray dogs.

It is chaired by deputy director (epidemiology) Dr Nitin Naik.The move comes in the wake of the Supreme Court directive to municipal authorities in Delhi to pick up and house all stray dogs in dedicated shelters within eight weeks._______________________________Housing society resists govt interventionPonda: Residents of Antruj Nagar Cooperative Housing Society in Ponda stopped govt officials from identifying a suitable place to feed stray dogs. They said they would continue feeding the strays living inside their colony, as has been the practice for a while now. Concerns were raised after incidents of dogs biting children within the colony came to light. Residents had even written to the South Goa collector, and Ponda veterinary hospital assistant director, Natasha Coutinho, had consequently planned to identify a suitable place for feeding inside the society on Monday.

Locals, however, opposed the move. Holding a woman who used to feed the strays responsible for the bites, locals said outsiders would not be allowed inside to feed the dogs. TNN