All dogs in Mumbai will be sterilised in 2 1/2 years: Phatak

Mumbai, Apr 17 (UNI) Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner (BMC) Jairaj Phatak today said the total number of dogs in the metropolis will be sterilised in the next two and a half years.

Speaking to reporters here today, Mr Phatak said the corporation has undertaken the process of sterilising the stray dogs on a large scale in the city, and the process will be completed in the next two and a half years.

''According to BMC census, there are 26,900 pet dogs and 70,180 stray dogs in the city,'' he said.

The corporation has come out with some interesting figures in the number of stray and pet dogs in Mumbai, with some administrative wards having more pet dogs than stray dogs.

''The number of pet dogs in 'D' ward is 1,507 while there are 1,439 stray dogs. Similarly, G South has 465 pet dogs as compared to 441 stray dogs and H West has 2,028 pet dogs while the number of stray dogs is 1,815,'' said Mr Phatak.

The Commissioner said the corporation will submit the report of the sterilisation work, undertaken by it, to the Bombay High Court and let the court decide.

Replying to a question on dogs outside Mumbai, Mr Phatak said the corporation cannot do much as the dogs may come to the city from nearby areas and mix with the local dogs and the corporation could not sterilise all the dogs coming to Mumbai and after submitting their report to the court, will wait for the court's directives.

Meanwhile, A ward in South Mumbai has only 100 stray dogs, the lowest in the city, and K East in the western suburb has 8,132 stray dogs, the highest in the city. Thus, Mumbai roughly has one dog for every 100 humans.

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