Civic body opposes geotagging of strays in Bengaluru

The BBMP had carried out a similar project in 2019 where some private firms tagged dogs with microchips, which helped pet owners to track vaccination details and birth upon scanning.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has opposed the initiative of geotagging stray dogs in Bengaluru. It is a pilot project created by Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services (AH&VS) department, who have collaborated with Mumbai-based NGO called PawFriend.in.

Despite having a positive outcome in Mumbai project, the BBMP released a letter opposing the idea. The letter read, "BBMP is regularly doing ABC-ARV (Animal Birth Control-Anti-Rabies Vaccination) programme and we will have another programme instead of geotagging. Experiment on stray dogs is not allowed and violating this will initiate legal procedure."

In Mumbai, the NGO and AH&VS have jointly tagged over 100 stray dogs and cats at Karuna Animal Welfare Association at Veterinary College in Hebbal; the animals were monitored for two days after carrying out geotagging project.

The funds for this project were collected by the money given by animal lovers by volunteering for it, as reported by The Times Of India.

One of the officials said that the dogs did not show any change in the behaviour after the pilot project. "They did not show any behavioural change or discomfort after being strapped with the unique IDs. In fact, a similar collaboration with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has yielded positive results and the same was recorded in these rescued dogs in Hebbal."

The BBMP had earlier carried out a similar project in 2019 where some private firms tagged dogs with microchips, which helped pet owners to track vaccination details and birth control measures upon scanning.

Justifying the reason of opposing the new pilot study, Dr Ravi Kumar, joint director, BBMP, said, "The stray population is different from the rescued dog population. If you strap a stray dog with such codes, it will bite and eventually tear it away. It is not long lasting. Whereas our microchips are subcutaneous and inserted by way of an injection. the microchips inserted by way will last long. Hence, we rejected the permission. They are free to do it for private and rescued dogs. If they use any strays, we will initiate legal action against them."