PANAJI: In a bid to control the stray dog population within their jurisdictions, about 20 civic bodies in Goa have tied up with the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services (AHVS).
Among these, the Calangute panchayat has sterilised 2,000 dogs in its jurisdiction.
“We have signed an MoU with Noah’s animal care shelter in Calangute and with the help of state government funding, we have managed to sterilise dogs in the entire coastal belt of the jurisdiction.
As a result, we have seen a substantial decrease in puppies in the village,” Calangute sarpanch, Shawn Martins told TOI.
Simultaneously, the anti-rabies dog vaccination drive by Mission Rabies is ongoing in the village.
Calangute has a total of nine vaddos and has a population of roughly 2,500 stray dogs.
While majority of these are territorial, about 500-600 dogs migrate to and from the neighbouring villages of Arpora and Candolim.
Being a coastal region in north Goa, the village of Calangute and its coastline is frequented by tourists and therefore sees a heavy motor-vehicle population during the peak season.
Road accidents due to stray cattle and bovines on the beach are a common sight in the area.
The panchayat has also decided to control the stray cattle population by lifting the animals and handing them to Gomantak Gosevak Mahasangh, a cattle-shed in Sikeri, Bicholim.
The panchayat will start this initiative beginning from Sunday.
In another such drive held last year they had handed 200 stray cattle to the cattle shed.
“The panchayat is committed to reduce the population of stray dogs and to see that the number of accidents and nuisance caused by stray cattle on roads and beaches reduce.
There will be a substantial reduction in both these menaces in the next tourist season.” Martins said.