Bangladesh Animal Care

This is a model used in India as seen PFA's Sterilisation & Immunisation Programme

• Stray dogs are caught by trained workers using loop or net.
• Once the stray dogs are brought to a shelter, dogs which have wounds and other afflictions are medically treated.
• Dogs which cannot be rehabilitated are euthanised in a painless manner.
• Keyhole surgery is performed on the strays to sterilize/castrate them.
• During the operation the animal is also ear-clipped (a small V-shaped cut is made in one of the years for future identification).
• A register of all dogs treated is maintained, together with medical details as are relevant.
• The dog is also dewormed and vaccinated against rabies.
• The Government vet visits the shelter on alternate days to examine the animals and approve their release pattern.
• Dogs are detained at the shelter for an average period of 7 days after which they are released in the same areas from which they are picked up.
• To avoid any mix-up in returning the animals to the area they inhabit, only dogs from the same area are picked up during a round and two areas are never covered at the same time.
• The animals are fed nourishing diet during the period they are at the shelter.

Cost & Model

Model Stray Dog Control Scheme jointly conducted by Municipal Council (MC) and Animal Welfare Organisation (AWO)

SCHEME:

Stray dogs are to be caught by the AWO. They are kept at the shelter for 7 - 10 days for operation and recovery. Unhealthy (includes suspected rabid, very ill, severe mange) dogs are euthanised with approval of vet. Healthy neutered dogs are re­turned to the areas they were picked up from.

PROGRAMME COSTS:

Approximate cost per dog for the ABC programme in RS is given below (costs for Bangladesh are being compiled):

Food (@Rs.10-15 per day): Rs.100

Vet fees per sterilisation: Rs.60

Medicines for operation: Rs.200 - 250 per dog.

Anti-rabies vaccination: Rs.25

Overheads (electricity, water, phone): Rs.15

Total cost: Rs. 400-450 per dog

Central Govt. provides grant of Rs.340 per sterilised dog. The grant does not fully cover all the costs listed above so AWOs try to get food / cash donations or some operations done free of costs by govt. vets.

Salaries of staff and petrol costs are not covered by the grant. The Council should therefore provide the workers for the program­me and petrol costs. (If municipal workers are deputed to the programme, they must work under the control of the AWO).

For a large municipality, requirement is 4 workers who are trained in dog-catching and one of whom can drive the vehicle.

Salary per worker Rs.3000.

Transport costs Rs.2000 per month.

Total cost payable by MC: Rs. 14,000 per month / or

Rs.1,68,000 per annum.

The AWO will adds its own staff of 2 or 3 persons to the team i.e a supervisor and 1 or 2 workers which the AWO will pay for.

PROGRAMME RETURNS:

With the above team it should be possible to sterilise minimum 100 dogs per month i.e 25 dogs per worker.

Besides sterilising 1,200 dogs about 10% - 15% more are likely to be euthanised. Thus per year 1,500 dogs will be covered under the ABC programme. In 3 years 4,500 dogs will be covered. If the stray dog population is estimated at 5000 dogs, a 3-year contract with the AWO should be sufficient.

After that the MC can even manage the programme on its own. Using its team of trained workers the MC can catch dogs and take them to any AWO for sterilisations. No payment needs to be made to the AWO who will obtain the reimbursement of sterilisation costs from the Central Govt.

INFRASTRUCTURE:

1. If land is assigned by Govt./ MC to the AWO on 30 year lease the AWO can obtain grant from Central Govt. for construction of shelter. 90% of shelter cost is covered by the grant. 10% must be raised by the AWO.
2. Vehicle for catching strays can also be procured by the AWO from Central govt. grant. 90% of vehicle cost is provided by the grant. 10% must be raised by the AWO.

Augmented from work of Ms Norma Alvares - proposal, advocacy, MOUs and further augmentation needed to work within the Bangladesh Context