BREAKING NEWS: AMIDST INTENSE HARASSMENT, CCC HALTS FREE ABC OPERATIONS IN PCMC NNP POUND

Since August 2022, the CCC team has initiated the provision of free animal birth control (ABC) services to the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), resulting in significant savings for taxpayers by avoiding the need for ABC tenders. The CCC ABC compliance reports were submitted daily to the PCMC team.

Throughout this period, the CCC team has encountered persistent nuisance and harassment from PCMC officials. These officials have regularly visited the premises at unpredictable times, verbally abused the CCC center head, Dr.Heena Naikude, and her team, and issued threats of severe consequences based on unfounded allegations.

We have had numerous meetings with the PCMC Commissioners, who have consistently demonstrated cooperation and support towards CCC. However, in our observation, their subordinates appear to lack concern for the effective management of the stray dog population in PCMC.

CCC team has faced a series of challenges since the inception of this initiative. It is our strong belief that these challenges have been orchestrated by certain vested officials within PCMC who are opposed to the provision of free ABC services by CCC. Instead, they appear to be pushing for the initiation of government ABC tenders, which historically have been associated with widespread corruption involving select NGOs operating in PCMC/Pune.

We have a letter issued by PCMC indicating that certain NGOs in the past have purportedly conducted between 14,000 to 21,000 operations annually on the same premises!!  A critical inquiry arises regarding the plausibility of conducting such a high volume of operations at the NNP Pound, given its limited capacity of 65 kennels, none of which are compliant with Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) requirements for ABC kennels. The new section inaugurated in February 2023, has 58 kennels which are AWBI compliant. And CCC team has been utilizing these 58 kennels for its ABC operations.

THE MATHEMATICS OF ANIMAL BIRTH CONTROL FOR STRAY DOGS

Assuming the utilization of 100 kennels and adherence to the Animal Welfare Board of India’s mandatory 5-day animal birth control program, a maximum of (100*5) 500 operations can be conducted per month.

However, a small percentage of dogs may require additional recovery time, leading to kennel occupancy and a potential shortfall in monthly operations. For example, the CCC team had to sterilise dogs picked up for injury and illness – these dogs take a long time to recover and hence occupied many kennels at NNP – further impacting our monthly ABC numbers.

Extrapolating this to an NGO purportedly conducting 500 surgeries monthly would result in approximately 6,000 ABC surgeries annually at NNP centre. The incongruity arises when considering the reported figures of 14,000 to 21,000 surgeries annually in the past on the same premises with even lesser number of kennels, prompting a call for accountability from the PCMC team.

IF THESE WERE THE ABC NUMBERS IN THE PAST THEN WHY DOES PCMC STILL FACE A STRAY DOG POPULATION ISSUE?

Questions demanding answers include:

• How were such inflated ABC surgery numbers achieved?
• Why were government funds, amounting to crores of rupees, disbursed to NGOs without proper investigation into their purported achievements?
• Who authorised the allocation of ABC funds to these NGOs?

DETAILS OF HARRASEMENT ENDURED BY CCC TEAM SINCE 2022 IN PCMC NNP POUND

1. Operational Duration: CCC commenced operations at the PCMC NNP Pound in August 2022.

2. Garbage Disposal: Persistent issues with improper garbage disposal have persisted, posing ongoing challenges.

3. Electricity Outages: Frequent electricity outages, occurring at least three times weekly, have resulted in the cancellation of surgeries and essential procedures. Despite repeated appeals to PCMC officials, no resolution has been achieved. A generator provided after repeated requests was placed near the incinerator but never had any fuel in it!

4. Burial of Large Animals: Concerns have arisen regarding the burial of large animals such as cows and buffaloes in and around the NNP Pound premises since July 2023. The resulting environmental and health hazards, including an unbearable stench and recent incidents of gas pipeline break due to digging for burying large animals, have rendered the environment uninhabitable for CCC staff and the dogs under their care. This gas pipeline break culminated in a significant fire hazard, further endangering the lives of our staff and the dogs there.

5. Nuisance and Disturbances: Instances of disturbances and altercations instigated by certain individuals, sometimes publicly and facilitated under RTI rules, often accompanied by PCMC officials, have adversely impacted our staff morale, and created a stressful work environment.

6. Neglect of Dogs in PCMC Hospital after PFA stopped work there: The presence of sick, injured, sterilised stray dogs and abandoned pets at the PCMC Hospital has been marked by severe starvation and inadequate medical care. Initial PCMC restrictions prevented CCC staff from providing essential medication or sustenance to these animals until intervention from the PFA team.

CCC team has diligently served the citizens of PCMC and the welfare of stray dogs within the municipality. A comprehensive survey conducted by us is in 2023 across a 67.1 sq km area of PCMC revealed encouraging statistics, with 75% of female dogs and over 63% of male dogs reported as sterilized. These findings underscore years of consistent sterilization efforts by CCC, both from its own center in Bhugaon and the NNP Pound since 2022. Despite sharing the survey results with PCMC officials, their apparent disregard for the welfare of stray dogs is evident, with their primary focus being the initiation of an ABC tender seemingly aimed at misappropriating taxpayers’ funds. Reports suggest ongoing discussions between PCMC officials and organisations who undertake ABC tenders regarding the allocation of the ABC tender, further highlighting the administration’s lack of commitment to stray dog population management.

Despite the challenges posed by the apathetic stance of PCMC authorities, CCC remains steadfast in its commitment to providing free sterilisation services for stray dogs, complemented by free anti-rabies and 9-in-1 vaccinations whenever feasible from alternate centers. The distressing indifference exhibited by those in positions of authority is disheartening, especially considering the tangible positive impact that could be achieved by supporting the continuation of CCC’s free ABC program within municipal pounds.