No space, funds: The state of dog shelters

Most facilities visited by HT said they were already at capacity and if sterilisation centres turn shelters, it would affect health

- Jignasa Sinha, Aheli Das and Aaditya Khatwani

Minimal space, limited resources and pending payments from government agencies are plaguing Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres and veterinary hospitals, HT found during spot checks on Tuesday, as the state government and civic bodies race against time to comply with a Supreme Court order mandating relocation of dogs from streets to shelters within eight weeks.

A common theme of doctors and nongovernmental organisation (NGO) workers, in HT’s spot check at 7 of 20 ABC centres, was of outrage at a reportedly insurmountable task.

One of the centres HT visited was near the Red Fort, where the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has allocated space next to a mortuary to Yash Domestic Research Centre, an NGO centre running since 2019. The NGO has set up 20 kennels, an open kitchen, an isolation box, an operation theatre and an open area.

Dr Sanjeev (goes by single name), who looks after the centre, said: “The court must have taken the decision after some thinking. At present, we don't have the infrastructure to house more than 125 dogs here. Dogs can only be kept for three to five days, because we have to accept new ones. There are injured dogs, dogs who are unwell, old dogs and dogs who need to be sterilised. In a month, we do more than 750 sterilisations and we only have two doctors. We can neither do more surgeries nor can we house more dogs. The kennels are small and only made for pre-surgery fasting, checkups and postoperative care.”