Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Thursday began its street dog census across the city, an official said.
The counting of stray dogs will take place in every street and ward across the city daily between 5 am to 7 am, the official said.
The census will be conducted in two phases. The first phase will continue till September 25, while the second phase will check whether the counted number of dogs are there or not, said BMC Mayor Sulochana Das.
A total of 410 teams consisting of sanitation workers, sanitation supervisors, sanitary inspectors, and other officials, who will conduct the census under the supervision of qualified veterinarians, she said.
BMC commissioner Chanchal Rana said the census will be conducted in all 67 wards of the city. It is necessary to have a census of stray dogs in the city so that necessary steps can be taken to manage their population, he said.
“We have not conducted a stray dog census in the BMC area for the past several years. We are collecting the status of male, female, puppy, whether sterilised or not; all such data are also being collected during the census,” Rana said.
He appealed to the citizens of the city to help the survey teams in counting the animals in their locality.
After completion of the census, a detailed stray dog management plan will be prepared as part of the animal birth control (ABC) drive to contain their population, he added.
The commissioner further said that the census will help in reducing dog bite cases, preventing disease transmission such as rabies and leptospirosis, addressing barking nuisances and road accidents, among others.
Apart, BMC will also be able to take initiative for the health and welfare of the stray dogs, he said.
Officials said currently, the stray dog population in the capital city is estimated to be around 80,000. However, their exact number will be known after the census is over.
