3 birth control centres for dogs in city turn into torture dens, finds report

It is said that if we look back at history, God created the wolf, but man made the dog and the transformation reflects the goodness of man’s imagination and discipline. But if one goes by the condition that transpires at the three Animal Birth Control centres (ABCs) viz Lloyds Colony, Kannamapet and Basin Bridge, it should put any person to shame as to the way we care and treat our four-legged friends.

A report filed by the Madras High Court appointed Advocate Commissioner A. Yogeshwaran on the prevailing situation in these three ABC centres reveals that they have virtually turned out to be concentration camps for these animals. Even the ones lucky enough to make it out of the centres are bound to suffer a miserable death as it is bound to either acquire some infection or get injured by other strays in the streets. Charting out the shortcomings in each of the pounds, wherein the duty doctors were not present, and the attenders were not adequate, the advocate commissioner in his report said: “The conditions prevailing in the pounds and the treatment meted out to dogs leaves a lot to be desired. Mere cleanliness and housekeeping of the pounds are not the only issues. Dogs are subjected to less than ideal practices and inhumane all through the process, starting from capturing, transport, housing prior to Surgery, post-operative care-recovery, manner of conduct of surgery and release.”

Pointing out that the Standard Operating Procedures spelt out by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) for holding such ABCs is never followed, the report stated: “The common method used by the Chennai Corporation is the use of a wire noose, despite butterfly nets being accepted as a more humane method that causes lesser trauma and harm to the dogs. But the use of a noose, which is inhumane and the practice of swinging dogs by loops or chains around the necks, or by the legs continues to be the practice.” Besides this, pre-surgery tests are not done on animals and according to a doctor in charge of one of the pounds, the decision on surgery is made based on a visual assessment of the fitness of the dog since there is no equipment or infrastructure for a better medical evaluation, the report said.

Also, citing the staggering number of surgeries done per day, it said: “The average time taken is 15 minutes for a surgery for a male dog and 20-25 minutes for female dogs. By taking 35 surgeries done on June 28, 2018 as an illustration, assuming 20 minutes per surgery, 35 surgeries would have consumed 700 minutes or roughly 11.5 hours of nonstop work.”

“This is impossible and, in any case, conducting so many surgeries on one single day raises serious questions as to the quality of care afforded and surgery conducted,” it stated.

Another intriguing factor is that despite being untrained for the job, the staff assist in the surgeries. The doctors retained on contract also do not receive any special training in ABC. Another worse aspect is the dogs are housed in rooms together even for post-operative care, resulting in fights among them, affecting recovery and integrity of sutures. Moreover, in the present system, healthy dogs can catch infection from other dogs and since the ABC centres do not treat dogs for illnesses, they are released without treatment.

But, the Corporation has stoutly defended the process by stating that every rule that governs the functioning of such ABC centres is in place. While claiming that the civic body has already provided sufficient fans, electrical and other facilities in all the three pounds, the counter said that each centre performed just about 10 birth control surgeries a day on an average. Moreover, each centre is manned by a veterinary assistant surgeon to look after all the activities, while a veterinary doctor has been deployed in each centre just for the sake of performing animal birth control and postoperative care of dogs.

Besides the advocate commissioner, the court had also appointed an amicus to make a study of the three pounds yet again on the plea moved by Almighty Animal Care Trust. The amicus on citing similar mistreatment to the dogs especially surgeries being performed without administering anesthesia and surgeries being performed by the drivers also noted that many agencies were willing to help the Corporation improve the facilities available for the dogs in these pounds. But the civic body is only keen on keeping them at bay since the inhuman practices adopted will come to light, it said.

Even the division bench comprising Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad, had directed the Corporation to accept the help rendered and that it was not going into the merits of the case and rival contentions about the adequacy of the measures and provisions made for the surgeries and postoperative care, and the allegations that surgeries were being performed by drivers and not doctors. The plea is set to be taken up for hearing after the court resumes after vacation. As things stand, though the objective of restricting the multiplication of street dogs is laudable, the way they are caught, sterilised and supposedly released at the same place from where they were caught, has left a lot to be desired.