Surat: The Surat Municipal Corporation has begun building three dog shelters across the city to house rescued animals, as part of a broader drive to remove dogs from public places and strengthen sterilization and vaccination efforts.The shelters will be set up in three zones — West Zone (Rander), East Zone B (Sarthana) and South Zone B (Sachin). Dogs rescued from these areas will be housed at the facilities.Civic officials said the shelters will accommodate dogs picked up from locations such as railway stations, hospitals, schools and govt offices. After rescue, the animals will be sterilized and vaccinated before being shifted to the shelters and will not be released back to the places they were picked up from.The civic body has identified around 800 such locations for the drive. Nodal officers have been appointed for each site and authorities concerned have been directed to install fencing and strengthen security at entry points to prevent dog movements on the premises.At present, an agency engaged by the SMC is carrying out sterilization work with a team of three veterinary doctors, three dog-catching vehicles and six field teams. Since 2021, the civic body has sterilized 58,960 dogs.The SMC has also begun a dog census. “The census will help us know the exact number of dogs in the city and how many of them are sterilized. Currently, the agency hired for animal birth control has a target to sterilize 30,000 dogs over two years,” an SMC official said.The sterilization process is being monitored by the animal birth control monitoring committee and the organ inspection committee, officials said. Anti-rabies vaccines are available at 74 civic health centres and two hospitals.“There is a significant drop in the number of puppies seen in the city, which reflects effective sterilization. Effective sterilization in surrounding rural areas can ensure that the dog population does not increase again in the city,” the official said.
