TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: As the Goa Animal Welfare Organisation and other NGOs are bracing up to launch the worldwide “Mission Rabies” on September 1 by holding mass canine vaccination programme, the government has suddenly realised it has no data bank on the canine population in the State.
Director of Panchayats Narayan Sawant’s directions to the Block Development Offices, directing the village panchayats to submit list of residents having pets has come a cropper. That’s not all. Not only some of the village panchayats from Salcete reported back saying there’s no survey conducted on the canine population, but it would require huge manpower to compile data on the dog population.
So far, three village panchayats of Navelim, Betalbatim and Davorlim have got back to the Salcete BDO Manuel Barretto, saying there’s no statistics available with the panchayat bodies on the canine population. “We are helpless in compiling data on the dog population in the villages. There’s no list of residents having pets with the panchayat bodies. Such a survey was never conducted by the local bodies in recent times,” remarked a secretary in the know.
When contacted, Salcete BDO Manuel Barretto said the directions issued to the panchayat secretaries to compile information on list of residents having pets have evoked little or no response. “The panchayat secretaries have got back saying there’s no survey of the pets with the households. My office will communicate to the Director of Panchayats the status on the dog population,” he said.
The Animal Welfare Organisation in Goa in association with the Animal Welfare Board of India, Worldwide Veterinary Service and Dog Trust are participating in Mission Rabies ~ an all India mass canine vaccination program.
