Several stray dogs found in the Jipmer campus were sterilised in the recent days after Oulgaret Municipality resumed ABC programme.
The territorial administration is gearing up to implement the Supreme Court order directing State governments and Union Territories to control stray dog population within institutional areas, such as educational institutions, hospitals, sports complexes, bus stands/depots, and railway stations in Puducherry.
Following the Supreme Court order on November 7, Chief Secretary Sharat Chauhan had held a meeting with heads of departments, including Local Administration, Education, Animal Husbandry and Health, last week to evolve a plan of action to implement the directions of the apex court. Representatives from the District Administration were also part of the meeting, said an official.
As a follow up to the high-level meeting, the local bodies have sent letters to heads of hospitals, schools, and colleges to appoint nodal officers for coordinating with government agencies to implement the order. The institutions have also been asked to conduct a census of dog population on their campus. Some of them have already started the enumeration exercise to assess the canine numbers on their premises, said another official.
In the letter to the institutions, the Municipalities have directed heads of colleges to ensure that feeding of stray dogs is not allowed within the campus and to adopt measures for preventing ingress of free-ranging dogs.
“Securing campuses is essential to avoid migration and congregation of stray dogs on institutional premises. Proper hygiene has to be maintained on the campus. The institutions should ensure that proper mechanisms are in place to collect food waste. Bins or closed containers should be kept for waste disposal on the campus and handed over to conservancy workers. The municipal authorities will conduct regular inspections, and any violation of the directions will attract action,“ the letter said.
The Oulgaret Municipality, under whose jurisdiction major institutions such as Pondicherry University, Pondicherry Technological University, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Government Medical College and several Arts and Science Colleges are located, had intensified Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme before the SC passed the order on stray dogs. Last month itself, around 250 stray dogs were caught from Jipmer Medical College and other institutions for ABC, the official said.
“One of our major problems in handling the issue, is the absence of proper dog shelters and even space to construct care homes for dogs. As part of the ABC programme, sterilised dogs were provided special care before being released back at the place of their capture after affixing tags for identification. But after the latest order, we cannot release the dogs at the same place and instead keep them in shelter homes. Finding suitable place for constructing shelter homes to keep such a large dog population will be a big challenge. We are working on it,” the official said.
The Oulgaret Municipality has asked two institutions to provide space on their premises for constructing shelter homes. The local body was also planning to construct a modern kennel near the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Veterinary Education and Research at a cost of ₹2.8 crore. Around 15 dogs could be sterilised per day and has facilities to accommodate a good number of canines post operation,” he said.
As per the order of the apex court, the institutions have to put in place proper administrative measures to prevent the ingress of stray dogs within eight weeks. Besides coordinating with institutions, the local bodies along with Animal Husbandry department are taking measures to curb the stray dog population in bus stands and playgrounds, said another official.
Published – November 20, 2025 07:52 pm IST
