Prayagraj launches drive to control stray dog population

PRAYAGRAJ: The civic body has launched a large-scale campaign to sterilise the city's over 1.1 lakh stray canine population amid increasing dog bite cases, reports Rajeev Mani. The action follows a National Rabies Control Programme report that showed 1.9 lakh people were bitten by dogs in the city over the past two years. Of these, 58,948 were reported in 2023 and 1.4 lakh in 2024.

The Prayagraj Municipal Corporation (PMC) is setting up an animal birth control centre in Shams Nagar Kareli (Haddigodam) where sterilisation and vaccination procedures will begin this month. Dr Vijay Amritraj, PMC's veterinary and welfare officer, said the centre had the capacity to house 200 to 250 dogs at a time. "Currently, Prayagraj has an estimated 1.1 lakh stray dogs, of which only 4,540 have undergone vaccination and sterilisation."