The Animal Welfare Board of India and Humane Society International India in coordination with the Department of Animal Husbandry Jammu organised one day workshop on the topic “Humane Street Dog Population Management “ today.The workshop was attended by Dr S L Bhagat , Director Animal Husbandry Jammu, Dr Sant Ram , Director Sheep Husbandry Jammu, Dr MMS Zama, Dean Faculty of Veterinary Sciences SKUAST Jammu, Dr S.L. Tickoo, member state Animal Welfare Board, Chief Executive Officers of Livestock Development Board Jammu & Kashmir , B.A Lone Deputy Director Urban Local Bodies.
Gauri Maulekhi, animal right activist and Advisor to Union Minister for Woman and Child Development gave an exhaustive overview about the current animal welfare status in the country and laid down the contours of the road map aimed at ensuring care and management of stray animals. She said that there is a urgent need to tackle the stray dog population on war footing with more effective municipal licensing of pet dogs and awareness campaign for better and responsible dog care and management practices are needed. The sheer magnitude and logistics of catching, neutering and releasing of such a huge number of stray dogs is a big challenge for the successful outcome of the animal birth control programme she added.
She also said that the root cause of the problem is uncontrolled urban waste accumulation in public spaces which needs to be tackled at the level of the local governments. Simultaneously, State authorities should initiate steps to neuter the dog population so that their presence in the streets does not create panic among the public and there is no public clamor for mass culling. While speaking on the occasion, Director Animal Husbandry Jammu, Dr S L Bhagat said that the objective behind organising the workshop is to manage the increasing population of stray dogs and to work out on the modalities to tackle with the alarming situation.There were three sessions in which presentations on different aspects of animal welfare activities were given.On the occasion, Representatives of Housing and Urban Development Department, Chief Executive officers, Executive officers of the municipalities and officers from Animal Husbandry Department were present.