The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will establish dog shelters at three locations in Pune city that can collectively accommodate 200 canines. Additionally, two large shelters will be started at Bhugaon and Shindewadi, each capable of housing up to 5,000 stray dogs. All five shelters are expected to become operational by the end of December, significantly boosting Pune’s infrastructure for stray animal management, said PMC officials.
Dr Sarika Funde-Bhosale, chief veterinary officer, PMC, told HT, “Three facilities at Naidu, Baner and Mundhwa will carry out the animal birth control programme for stray dogs. These shelters will be started immediately. Post sterilisation and vaccination, strays will be released at places different from where they were picked up.”
“All five shelters will be operational by the end of 2025. In future, 20 shelters for canines will be set up at different locations in the city. For this, expenses of over ₹20 crore are likely to be incurred. A proposal for the same will soon be submitted to the Pune municipal commissioner,” said Dr Nina Borade, health chief of the PMC.
Reportedly, Pune has an estimated stray dog population of more than three lakh, despite this, the city does not have a single dedicated shelter for them. PMC officials said that they are working to scale up their infrastructure rapidly, but stressed that sustained funding, additional manpower and coordinated implementation will be crucial to managing the massive stray dog population.
On November 24, the Supreme Court (SC) directed the state government that the local bodies should immediately capture, sterilise and vaccinate stray dogs found near sensitive public locations such as educational institutions, public and private hospitals, sports complexes, bus depots, interstate bus terminals, and railway stations. The guidelines also directed that the dogs be released at places different from where they were picked up after sterilisation and vaccination.
