A dog pound is coming up in New Town. Being built by New Town Kolkata Development Authority in Action Area 1D, near Aquatica, it will have 11 rooms. A kitchen where their food will be prepared is also being constructed in the compound which also houses a cattle pound.

At the pound, stray dogs will get sterilised by former government veterinary surgeons now attached with the NKDA, an official said.

Although there are no statistics available on the stray dog population in New Town, the official said that there had been a spurt in their numbers near Rail Vihar behind Nazrul Tirtha, at the Unitech intersection and in several blocks of the township.

The vet who sits at the recently opened Pet Dog Creche cum Clinic, Dr Nurul Islam, says the officials have spoken to him about conducting the sterilisation surgeries.

“I sit at the clinic from Monday to Saturday, 11am to 2pm, but thereafter I could conduct the operations,” says Islam, a retired government vet. “The surgeries take about an hour per dog so I would need a helper and another vet, if possible.”

The creche cum clinic does not have an operation theatre so he says the cattle pound may be more suitable. “Dogs need to be kept in post operative care for a week. That would not be possible in the creche as the rooms here are for those keeping their pets behind. Plus there would also a chance of ticks and fleas spreading from strays to pets.”

Dip in stray cattle count

The cattle pound has been functioning for the past several months.

According to Debashis Sen, the chairman of NKDA, around 198 cows and 54 buffalos have been impounded. The NKDA has formed specialised teams to catch stray cattle from the major thoroughfares in the township to prevent accidents that occur when cows and buffaloes suddenly appear on the carriageway.

The captured cattle are then taken to the NKDA-run cattle pound. A notice is put up both in the pound and on the NKDA website describing the animal and from where it was picked up. The owners have to pay a fine and take them back within seven days. If they don’t, the NKDA auctions them off. According to the official, a total of Rs 5.6 lakh have been collected from such seizures as fine. Several residents of the township said that the number of stray cattle on the streets has gone down.