Shoddy ABC being done in Chandigarh

Other ABC related Rules etc:   http://envfor.nic.in/legis/awbi/awbi13.pdf

Dear Jaspreet,

The female dog’s caregiver and other animal lovers should get together and register an FIR against the MC for breaking the law. If I’m not wrong, there’s a Supreme Court ruling that even so-called ‘nuisance’ dogs cannot be removed from their habitat. They can only be removed for sterilization/vaccination and then returned. Since this dog was already sterilized, the MC went against the said Supreme Court ruling, and should be hauled up for it.

In similar circumstances here in Delhi, FIRs were lodged against both MCD and NDMC, who have since desisted from picking up spayed/neutered/’biting’ dogs.

Please see below attached mails from other very worried animal lovers detailing detailing the woes of Chandigarh’s stray dogs, to which they tell me there has been no response from AWBI.

Please consider creating an online petition against the offending agencies; publicize the issue as far as possible.

Madhu Goyal

---

Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2014 10:19:13 -0700
From: jas7march@yahoo.com
Subject: ABC program in Chandigarh
To: Animalwelfareboard@gmail.com; AWBI@md3.vsnl.net.in
CC: gandhim@nic.in; pfagoa@gmail.com; jp2112@gmail.com;anjalisharma2@gmail.com; citizensforanimalrights@gmail.com;hiranmay.karlekar@gmail.com; lisa.warden@gmail.com;chinnykrishna@gmail.com; leslieirob@yahoo.com; luke@wvs.org.uk;madhu_goyal@hotmail.com; srswamy@gmail.com; vspcadeep@yahoo.co.in;ngjayasimha@hsi.org; geeta@wildlifesos.org; mandydseth@gmail.com;amita.singh3@gmail.com; yana.bey@gmail.com; wah.gurgaon@gmail.com;amitkorpal@gmail.com; indigreeangels@gmail.com; sonyaghosh@gmail.com;arpan@fiapo.org; shawlinee@gmail.com; poroma_rebello@apl.com;poroma.rebello@gmail.com; nilesh@pawsasia.org; thanespca@hotmail.com;jayasimhang@petaindia.org; a.akkineni@gmail.com; erikaabrams@yahoo.com;abhishekraje@gmail.com; anjani.moef@yahoo.com;hiranmaykarlekar@yahoo.co.uk; EllyHiby@wspa-international.org;ambikashukla@yahoo.com; terraanima@gmail.com; darshan561@yahoo.com;esourabh@hotmail.com; abodh.a@gmail.com; abod00707@gmail.com;nadkarniruchi@gmail.com; marathe.ajay@gmail.com

To

The Chairman,

Animal Welfare Board of India

Dear Sir,

I once again appeal to you for your immediate intervention and help in saving the dogs in Chandigarh from the brutality that is being inflicted upon them in the name of birth control. I am enclosing photographs of two dogs-one male and one female that had been picked up by the dog catching squad of the municipal corporation, Chandigarh. Both the dogs were absolutely healthy when they had been brought to the shelter.The male dog (the one who has a red collar around his neck) was picked up for neutering while the female dog was already spayed (ear notched). The male dog was neutered at SPCA and stayed at the shelter till his surgical wound healed. The female dog (extremely friendly) also stayed at the shelter for a long period because the municipal corporation people refused to take her back and insisted that she be kept there for some more days as some people had complained that she was biting. Both the dogs were released a few days back. Both of them are now back at the SPCA shelter as both are very sick. The lady, Ms.Sonia (09988333703) who looks after them informed that they both had stopped eating after their release and had become very listless clearly indicating that they had caught the infection during their stay at the shelter. She was in tears when she got them to the shelter yesterday. Both the dogs were absolutely healthy when they had been brought to the shelter by the municipal corporation staff. Can such a program that sends sterilised dogs back with some infection which could be fatal for them in case of no one looking after them ever prove to be effective in controlling their population?

I would very humbly like to ask Sir, will this brutality in the name of animal birth control be allowed to continue by the apex animal welfare body.

I place my trust in your response.

Regards,

Jaspreet Sidhu

09780085836

—– Forwarded Message —–
From: Drritusidhu <drritusidhu@gmail.com>
To: “animalwelfareboard@gmail.com” <animalwelfareboard@gmail.com> 
Cc: “gandhim@nic.in,AWBI@md3.vsnl.net.in,madhu.goyal41@yahoo.com” <gandhim@nic.in> 
Sent: Friday, 30 May 2014 5:24 PM
Subject: Killing of stray dogs

Dear sir/madam, I am writing this mail to express my shock over the “limited killing” of stray dogs(an article regarding this appeared in the papers). As a so called civilised society, is this what we want to teach our children? Killing stray animals is not only cruel but is also not a complete solution to the problem. It seems this decision is being taken to hide the inefficiency of our society to deal with animals. In stead of this,why can we not raise awareness about animal shelters and animal sterilisation which will also help to sensitise the society towards such issues . Special units for sterilisation which are separate from animal shelters are the need of the hours. As an animal lover,I sincerely request you to look into this matter and help us raise awareness regarding it. Regards ,Dr Ritu Sidhu,SKINVEDA,Scf 5,sector 10-D,Chandigarh.

—– Forwarded Message —–
From: roopika dhillon <roopika9666@hotmail.com>
To: madhu.goyal41@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, 28 May 2014 5:54 PM
Subject: Urgent intervention requested

To
Maj.Gen.( Retd.) Dr.R.M.Kharb,
Chairman,
Animal Welfare Board of India.

Subject – Animal welfare being compromised due to gross negligence and vested human interests.

Dear Sir,
This is to bring into your notice the inefficient manner by which the ABC ( animal birth control ) programme is being run by SPCA Chandigarh.There is no criteria that is being followed.Dogs are being picked up at random irrespective of their age and other medical conditions.The staff deployed by the M.C to catch them is not trained at all.They catch dogs in the most brutal and in humane way.Most dogs are bleeding profusely when they are brought to the shelter.This makes them more fearful and aggressive towards humans.No SPCA official accompanies the dog catching squad to advice/supervise over them.Very often already operated dogs are brought to the shelter.The attitude is so careless that the operation theatre has been functioning without  an O.T light and the ABC unit is never disinfected as per the rules,resulting in infection being passed on easily from one dog to the other.Sadly,the doctors who operate upon them do so solely with the objective of getting the Rs.1000/-  as sanctioned for sterilisation per dog.Dr.Raman Sharma does not even bother to check the health or age of the dogs that are brought to him for surgery.Recently he operated upon a very old white coloured female dog that had been picked up by the M.C from sector 22.The dog was in extreme pain and discomfort after the surgery and although a volunteer brought it into the notice of the said doctor,he chose to ignore her condition.As expected,her old body could not take the stress of such a major surgery and she died a painful death soon after.
Another shocking incident is that of a female dog operated upon on the 23rd of March 2014 and on paper it was shown that she was released on the 27th of April 2014 although she is still at the shelter.On being questioned,Dr.Raman Sharma said it was done at the insistence of Mr.Darshan Kumar ( executive secretary ) as by showing the dog to have been released,they would be able to claim the remuneration for the same by the M.C.This clearly proves that there is something terribly wrong in the way this programme is being run here.Healthy and diseased dogs are handled by the same staff.As a result,in no time they too catch the deadly virus and die a painful death.No segregation is done to make sure sick dogs are kept away and attended to by separate staff members so as to minimise the risk of infection.It is truly heart wrenching to see the plight of the poor animals there.Very sadly I have to state that hardly any dog comes out of the shelter alive and healthy.And all because of the inefficient and lax attitude and lack of will to make a few changes.
Sadly,the programme is being  run only because it is considered money generating by Dr.Kochar.The whole idea of the well being of animals is lost somewhere in the middle of petty egos and vested interests.The entire ABC programme has been reduced to a game of numbers whereby the aim is only to show how many dogs have been cut open without any concern regarding the plight of these poor animals thereafter.I would request you to please look into the matter deeply.The ABC programme going in in chandigarh needs to be independently reviewed to assess its effectiveness and efficiency and also to assess whether SPCA Chandigarh is even equipped to carry out the programme under the prevailing circumstances whereby every aspect of prevention of cruelty to animals is being compromised.
With Regards,
Roopika Dhillon
09855701043

—– Forwarded Message —–
From: nandini kakar <nandinikakar@gmail.com>
To: ngjayasimha@hsi.org
Sent: Friday, 4 April 2014 1:26 PM
Subject: SPCA Chandigarh- Animal Birth Control Program

To

Sh NG Jayasimha,

Director HSI and Member Animal Welfare Board of India

Subject :   Help regarding the functioning of SPCA

Chandigarh specifically in determining

whether it is Primarily an ABC Unit or a shelter

for sick and injured street animals?

Dear Sh Jayasimha,

I am writing to you to seek help regarding certain issues related to the functioning of SPCA Chandigarh particularly the Animal Birth Control Program being carried out in collaboration with the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh. I have observed that in almost all the meetings of the Executive Committee and even other informal meetings that the ABC program is always a top priority in the agenda with the focus only on increasing the number of surgeries with complete disregard to other very important aspects like providing a clean, aseptic environment before and after surgery, proper diet and proper post-operative care which are never discussed.  Although Dr JC Kochar, a private vet practitioner and President, SPCA often makes statements that ABC is not the job of SPCA, yet it is always treated by him as the most important activity/job of SPCA Chandigarh with the welfare of animals always taking a backseat.

There was a lot of hue and cry the last time the ABC program was stalled in the month of November, 2013. I would like to apprise you of the reasons why the program was got stalled. The program was stalled as there were a lot of complaints of dogs (brought by the Municipal Corporation for ABC to SPCA) falling sick after their release. There were 23 such reported cases. All the dogs were sent back to the SPCA hospital and all were diagnosed to be suffering from Distemper. Some of these dogs were brought back by the dog catching squad of the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, some by the SPCA staff and some were brought by the good samaritans looking after them. In all probability, these dogs (that were absolutely healthy when they were brought to the shelter) had caught the distemper virus during the period of recuperation after surgery. This fact was brought to the notice of Dr JC Kochar, President by Dr Abul Wafa, the veterinary doctor at SPCA. I had also apprised him of the situation and had also sent videos of some of the dogs in an e-mail. These reported cases were of dogs that were being looked after by people of the areas which these dogs inhabited. I shudder to think of the fate of the other dogs that might have caught the virus during their stay at the SPCA hospital and had no one looking after them. No one bothered to look into the matter. Instead an e-mail was circulated by Dr SK Sharma (Patron-cum-Advisor,SPCA) with the subject New Year Guidelines for SPCA Chandigarh. One of the points was regarding ABC in which he had mentioned that no interruption or halting of this work would be permissible by anyone’s individual impulse (meaning me) or opinion and without obtaining prior written orders in that direction from the President. The e-mail did not name the individual at whose impulse or opinion the said program was stopped. I very humbly ask – can stalling of a program due to such a huge loss of innocent lives be termed an individual’s impulse? As per the Constitution of SPCA Chandigarh, one of the purposes for which the Society has been established is ” To prevent all forms of cruelty to animals”. This is point number i) of para 3 of the Constitution which states the objects for which the Society is established. Is it justified to carry out a program in such a manner that it leads to such a huge loss of lives? Does it not defeat the basic purpose for which the Society has been established? Does it not amount to infliction of cruelty on the hapless animals?

Sir, the Animal Birth Control Program has been going on in Chandigarh for more than 10 years now and yet no sector in the city can be termed a “PUPPY FREE ZONE” clearly indicative of the failure / ineffectiveness of the program. The method of implementation needs to focus on achieving the twin objectives of completing a locality (i.e. sterilizing all the female dogs in it) before moving on to an adjacent area and of turning localities into puppy-free zones with static populations. However, the insistence is always on numbers ignoring the fact that in such eventuality of chasing the ‘numbers’, the main purpose gets defeated. Repeated requests to carry out the program in a systematic manner covering one sector first before moving to the other have fallen on deaf ears. Whenever I have raised this issue at any meeting, Dr Kochar has always stated that we should let the municipal corporation handle this as it is not our job. I always ask him that if it is not our job then why do we always insist on doing it and in turn ignore the huge number of sick animals at the shelter to which he never has any reply and simply walks away.

I would also like to discuss the issue of Anaesthesia. Most of us know that Ketamine – one of the drugs used for sedation during surgery is not available in the market without a licence. In the meeting of the Executive Committee of SPCA held on 18th March,2014 this issue was discussed. It was suggested by almost all the veterinarians(most of them very senior veterinarians) that in place of Xylazin and Ketamine a combination of either Xylazin and Diazepam or Xylazin and Atropine could be used although the veterinary doctor at SPCA Dr Raman Sharma was not in favour of this as he said that these were pre-anaesthetic drugs and he had never done any surgery with either of the two combinations suggested. He was very strongly told by the other senior veterinarians present to try one of these combinations. Will we always keep subjecting the hapless animals to trial and error methods? After the meeting, I discussed this issue with a few veterinarians who are regularly doing spaying/castration and no one approved of either of the combinations. I fail to understand what are we trying to achieve by subjecting innocent animals to this kind of torture in the name of animal birth control. Do the mute animals deserve this kind of treatment only because we humans want to control their population under a program that is being carried out in a haphazard manner?

The program is considered money-generating by Dr JC Kochar.  But, Sir, is it justified to carry out a program only because it is money-generating? Is it right to bring healthy animals to a shelter that is not disinfected, with the same veterinary doctor and animal attendants who attend to the sick animals going to the ABC Unit including the operation theatre with the same shoes on, carrying all the infection to that unit?

Is it not important to provide a clean, aseptic environment, proper equipment to the veterinary surgeon(s) (the operation theatre at SPCA Chandigarh has been functioning without an OT Light), proper post-operative treatment and care, a proper diet to the animals brought to the shelter under the program?

The Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001 framed for the program are never followed.

I completely support the Animal Birth Control program BUT only if done properly with the welfare of animals being top priority. It is very easy to order that dogs be brought to the shelter for ABC but what is most important is to ensure that they are handled humanely, provided a clean, aseptic environment and proper care and diet after surgery during the period of recuperation.

Presently there is only one veterinary doctor at SPCA, Chandigarh. The other doctor is on a long leave. There are around 70 dogs and 45 large animals that require treatment on a daily basis. The treatment (including administration of drip) of small and large sick and injured animals is being done by the animal attendants with the lone veterinary doctor busy in ABC. I humbly wish to ask- Have SPCAs been created only for ABC or are they supposed to provide treatment and care to the sick and injured animals?

Sir, please treat this as most urgent and intervene and help Review the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Program going on in Chandigarh for more than a decade to assess it’s effectiveness in minimising human-animal conflict and also assess whether or not SPCA Chandigarh is equipped to carry out the program under the prevailing circumstances.

I place my trust in your response.

Regards,

Nandini Kakar