MP Arora takes up issue of incidents of stray dog bites in Parliament
In a statement here today, AAP MP (Rajya Sabha) from Ludhiana Sanjeev Arora said he had asked whether the government has taken cognizance of the increase in incidents of stray dog bites; if so, the steps taken by government in this regard. He had also asked whether there is a national policy in place to take care of stray dogs; and if not, whether the same would be made and implemented at the earliest.
City Air News
Apr 2, 2023 02:01
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Ludhiana, April 2, 2023: In a statement here today, AAP MP (Rajya Sabha) from Ludhiana Sanjeev Arora said he had asked whether the government has taken cognizance of the increase in incidents of stray dog bites; if so, the steps taken by government in this regard. He had also asked whether there is a national policy in place to take care of stray dogs; and if not, whether the same would be made and implemented at the earliest.
In his reply, the Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala stated that the animal bite data is captured in “Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) run by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). However, no dog bite data is separately captured. According to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, the year wise Animal Bite Data captured in ‘Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme’ (IDSP) shows that there is year-wise decline in animal bite cases across the country, the detail of which is as under: 2019 (72,77,523), 2020 (46,33,493), 2021 (17,01,133); and 2022 (14,50,666).
These figures were made available by the Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala in the recently held session of Rajya Sabha in reply to an unstarred question on increase in incidents of stray dog bites asked by Arora.
The Union Minister further replied that the Central Government has launched the National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP) for prevention and control of Rabies. As per information received from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there are strategies of the National Rabies Control Program. These strategies include provision of rabies vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin through national free drug initiatives; training on appropriate animal bite management, prevention and control of rabies, surveillance and intersectoral coordination; strengthening surveillance of animal bites and rabies deaths reporting; and creating awareness about rabies prevention.
Further, The Union Minister mentioned that the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has also requested the concerned authorities to take appropriate action and to effectively implement the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2023 to control the dog population.
Arora said the Union Minister also stated that Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India jointly launched ‘National Action Plan For Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination (NAPRE) from India by 2030’. The stray dog population control and management of stray dogs is the mandate of the local bodies. The Central Government has framed the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2023 which is to be implemented by the local authority to control the population of stray dogs. The focus of the rules is on anti-rabies vaccination of stray dogs and neutering of stray dogs as means of population stabilization.
Arora lauded the local municipal authorities for taking adequate measures to check stray dog population. He added according to official data, over 80000 stray dogs have already been sterilized across the city. He pointed out that these measures will ultimately lead to minimizing incidents of stray dog bites in the city.
