Delhi: 3,000 dog bites but North body hospitals have no rabies vaccine

When contacted, Leader of the North Corporation’s standing committee Veena Virmani said, “The contract with the company through which it (the vaccine) was purchased was over, and there was delay in finalising a new contract.”
Meanwhile, the standing committee was also informed that the number of cattle caught and sent to shelters by the North civic body has decreased by half, with just 2,878 cattle being caught in 2017-18 as compared to 4,373 in 2016-17.

Goel, who raised the issue in the standing committee meeting of the North Corporation Tuesday, said, “We know the number of stray cattle is rising in Delhi. It is causing accidents. They eat plastic on roads. The BJP talks of cow protection, but the corporation that it rules is not concerned about the issue.”

A senior official of the North Corporation said, “Cattle shelters are full. There are five cattle shelters, of which only one has space, and others have stopped accepting animals for more than a couple of months.” “We have written to the Delhi government to open more shelters, as MCD’s job is to catch cattle and gaushalas are governed by Delhi government ,” he said. The number of monkeys caught by the North Corporation also saw a sharp fall in past four years, with just 152 monkeys being caught in 2016-18, as compared to 735 in 2014-16.

“We get over two-three bite cases every day, but it has been difficult to get a monkey catcher in past few years. Payments are often delayed, due to which they leave the job,” said the official. “We have even requested the wildlife department to take up this responsibility, as they have more resources.” The number of stray dogs caught shows an increasing trend, with 21,035 caught in 2017-18 as compared to 9,866 the previous year.