Over 12,500 dogs sterilised and vaccinated in Erode Corporation limits

The Erode Corporation has sterilised and vaccinated 12,554 stray dogs in two years in the city under the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme, which was launched in January last year.

Though the civic body launched the programme in 2010, it was discontinued within a few weeks leading to sharp increase in the number of stray dogs in all the 60 Wards in the four zones of Erode city.

In 2023, a GPS-based survey conducted by the Corporation estimated the city’s stray dog population at about 27,000. The civic body engaged Animal Helping Hands, an NGO, to carry out the programme at the ABC centre in Solar. On an average, about 1,200 dogs are sterilised each month. The NGO is paid ₹1,650 a dog for capturing, sterilising, vaccinating against rabies, and releasing it in its locality.

A health official said that in the first phase, carried out between January 12, 2024 and November 2024, a total of 4,998 dogs were sterilised at ₹82.46 lakh. In the second phase, between December 2024 and August 2025, a total of 5,000 dogs were sterilised, with an expenditure of ₹82.50 lakh. Currently, the third phase is on from September 1, 2025, to cover another 5,000 dogs at a cost of ₹82.50 lakh.