In 4 years, stray dog numbers decline by 30,000

The dog census was completed in all the 15 zones last week and the officials are collating the findings category-wise, according to a Corporation Health Department official. “However, we have got rough figures and they suggest that the city, as of now, has nearly 50,000 stray dogs,” an official said.

The civic body has been conducting an enumeration of stray dogs every four years. According to a census in 2014, there were 83,000 stray dogs in the city.

“During the last four years, we have brought down the stray dog population by carrying out intensive sterilisation. However, zone-wise and category-wise results of the present census will be released after the approval of the commissioner in the coming days,” the official added.

The civic body used an exclusive mobile application to conduct the census rather than enumerating manually. “Observers, who took part in the census, were given a mobile phone with the app installed. When an observer found a dog, he/she would select a colour from the app to send the information about the number and category of the dog to the central server,” the official explained.

Unlike earlier census, in the app-based online census, the dogs were categorised into sterilised male, unsterilised male, sterilised female, unsterilised female, lactating mother and puppies. The specific colour was attributed to a specific category.

Initially, the Corporation tested the app in Royapuram, Adyar and Kodambakkam zones. “Following the success of the application, it was used for the entire city,” the official said. The officials claimed that the new method was far more accurate than manual enumeration as the information was sent to the head office in real-time. “To ensure that the observers cover all the streets, the GPS-enabled app kept a track of their route,” the official said.

The official said hotspots with a high concentration of stray dogs were identified. “Mass and intensive sterilisation drives would be conducted in such spots to check the population,” the official said.

According to a Supreme Court order, civic bodies should catch stray dogs and sterilise them before leaving them at the places where they were caught.

Meanwhile, residents demanded that the Corporation take action before the next breeding season. “Returning home late at night is scary as dogs chase us. One of my friends was injured after he rammed his bike on a pavement while fleeing a dog. Officials should take action to further cut the population,” M Mohan of Nesapakkam said.