Stray dogs have a field day

KOCHI: Stray dog menace is posing a threat to the city residents. Some of the areas most affected with the menace are West Kochi, Parade Ground and Fort Kochi Beach. As per the government rule, stray animals cannot be killed. As a result, the number of these animals has been steadily rising.At the national level, the Animal Birth Control (ABC) project was implemented to solve the problem. As part of the project, stray animals are caught and sterilised and later freed at where they were caught. The project which has been found successful in metros like Bengalore, is yet to be implemented in Kochi.   Though the ABC project was implemented four years ago at Mattancherry Veterinary Hospital, it was stopped owing to lack of infrastructure, an officials said. Now, there is no facility for ABC in the city. “` 5 lakh has been sanctioned to set up an ABC unit and the land has also been selected,” the authorities said. The Corporation land in Chullikal, Mattanchery, has been selected for the project. The Mayor had inspected the land but the residents are protesting against the project as a school is situated near the site. The fund allotted for the project has to be  utilised before it lapses. In Fort Kochi the public and the tourists are suffering because of the stray dog menace. “Because of the dogs, the tourists are afraid to walk on the beach,” says P J Stanly, a resident of Fort Kochi.  The Parade Ground where students used to practise football, is now abandoned thanks to the army of strays that has invaded the area.