Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has appealed to citizens who feed stray dogs in public places to provide details about feeding spots. The initiative has been launched in compliance with recent Supreme Court directives to formalise feeding spots.
Accordingly, PMC has urged citizens, NGOs, and organisations to submit applications to the PMC’s health office, veterinary department, 3rd floor. The application must include specific details, including the location, feeding times, and the estimated number of stray dogs being fed.
On the development, PMC’s health officer, Nina Borade, said, “As per the information provided by citizens, the Pune Municipal Corporation will officially designate feeding spots for stray dogs. These locations are to be finalised as per the directives of the Supreme Court."
PMC has set a deadline of 15 days for the submission of this information, which follows the November 7 directive of the Supreme Court (SC), directing all states and Union Territories to remove stray dogs from the premises of various institutions and public places. The SC directives also mandated the establishment of municipal helplines to report violations, and the creation of designated feeding zones, which triggered a mixed response from the city's animal welfare community.
Reportedly, there are around 2.5 lakh stray dogs in Pune, and most of them are fed by animal lovers or animal welfare organisations. Borade added, “A committee will identify feeding spots from those informed by the citizens, and they will be finalised after some checks, like the feeding spot is not close to the playing area of children or recreation of senior citizens and is in a place that does not create nuisance to the public, following which a board will be put at the designated place.”
