SENSEX
NIFTY
GOLD
USD/INR

Weather

image 19    C

Kerala News

News

Kerala / The New Indian Express

details

Vets, vax & woofs: Kochi's stray dogs get anti-rabies shots

Over the past few days, young men and women sporting bright yellow T-shirts have been spotted running with pole-nets behind stray dogs across the city. Many have been wondering what they were up to, considering the national attention strays have drawn in recent times. Well, these youths are members of several NGOs that have joined forces for a vaccination campaign. The Worldwide Veterinary Services Mission Rabies, in partnership with the Animal Rescue Kochi collective, has deployed about 200 volunteers across wards under the city corporation, and the Chellanam and Kumbalangi panchayats. Their target: to vaccinate 10,000 stray dogs. Notably, as per the corporations estimates, there are as many strays within the city limits alone. The five-day vaccination drive, which started on November 24, is being carried out by NGO volunteers from across the country especially Goa, the base of Mission Rabies India and from several other nations. Notably, the campaign comes amid rising judicial and public pressure. Kerala recorded 3.63 lakh dog-bite cases in the past year, a third linked to strays. In July, the High Court slammed civic bodies for inaction, noting over 1 lakh bites and 16 deaths in just six months this year. The court rejected culling and directed a humane, structured approach centred on sterilisation, vaccination, and monitoring. Among the chief coordinators of the ongoing vaccination drive is Sajith Sajan, a veterinary nurse and founder of Animal Rescue Kochi. known for his efforts in organising fundraisers, adoption drives, and community outreach. Animal Rescue Kochi acts as a base for the campaign. We collaborate and coordinate drives with other organisations, Sajith says. Working alongside him is British veterinary nurse Julie Corfmat, the Kerala head of Mission Rabies, who has spent nearly two decades working with street dogs across India. Last year, Mission Rabies collaborated with Animal Rescue Kochi and ran a 14-day anti-rabies vaccination campaign across Chellanam, Kumbalangi, and 30 wards under the Kochi corporation. The team vaccinated about 3,000 dogs through field mapping, door-to-door searches, and mobile vaccination units, shares Julie. The success of that drive led to the current campaign, for which they met with the authorities to develop a strategy. So far, we have come across two cases of rabies-infected dogs during this particular drive. The total has now reached 25 since July in Kochi, Sajith says, underscoring the urgency of the mission. When a dog suspected of being infected is identified, it is taken away for isolation, observation and, if needed, euthanasia in an ambulance that remains on standby. Other dogs in the area are given supplementary vaccine shots. Two types of teams hand-catching and net-catching are deployed. Each has three to four volunteers armed with nets, vaccine shots, and paint markers. All the friendly dogs, the ones that we can handle, are vaccinated by hand. The aggressive ones are caught in a net, says Julie. We vaccinate, mark, and also conduct a post-vaccination survey to assess the coverage. Right now, we have 36 teams in action. Volunteers during a net catching drive TNIE joins a hand-catching team, led by 26-year-old Lokesh Yukiy from Goa, who has been with Mission Rabies for six years. The team also includes Sakshi, 18, from Shimla, and Dr Vishnu, a veterinarian from Kollam. On their second drive of the day, they head towards Nambiapuram in Palluruthy. For the next three hours, we trace a loop: Hospital Road, MLA Road, Nera Lane, Nambiapuram Road, AroorThoppumpady Road, and back to the Corporation Ground. The first dog approached the volunteers with curiosity, tail wagging. A quick jab, a green paint mark on the head, and hes off. Shy, older dogs retreat on seeing the team, while some puppies tag along like supervisors. On Hospital Road near Palluruthy, Sakshi emerges from a dark corner of a building with three pups. They are vaccinated gently, set free. A little later, Sakshi slips under an old pushcart to coax out another nervous dog. The mutt, however, manages to scoot. Such moments have become routine for us, she smiles. On MLA Road, the lanes narrow, and clusters of community dogs appear some playful, some cautious. One family brings out their pet indie dog. Dr Vishnu gives the little one a shot and hands a small card with the vaccination details to the family. Why do you paint the head? Will you take the marked dogs away? ask some curious children trailing the team. Volunteers explain the drive and importance of anti-rabies vaccination. Some older residents of the area demand that the strays be relocated, opening up conversations about coexistence and community responsibility. As we return to Corporation Ground, the teams tally for the day stands at 10 dogs. Those left would be covered by the net team the next day. On average, these teams together cover 250 to 300 dogs a day. Volunteers during the vaccination drive The modus operandi closely mirrors Goas rabies-elimination programme, which is said to be a success model. When Mission Rabies launched a pilot in Goa in 2014, the findings were alarming: among 45 suspected animal cases, 39 tested positive. What followed was public-health collaborations. Mission Rabies, the state government, and hundreds of trained volunteers created a model based on mass vaccination, surveillance, and rapid response, Sajith explains. In 2015, an MoU formalised the partnership. In a month-long campaign, over 63,000 dogs were vaccinated with the support of 500 veterinary professionals from 16 countries. A rabies hotline was introduced for immediate reporting, and door-to-door coverage ensured no pockets of the state were missed. By 2021, he adds, Goa was officially declared a rabies-controlled area after three consecutive years without a single human rabies death. Monitoring, surveillance, and annual vaccination cycles continue even today. Similar to Goas rapid-response system, a dedicated rabies hotline for Kochi is set to be launched soon. Sajith adds that vaccination is vital as animal birth control measures may not always be feasible due to manpower and logistical constraints. Corporation veterinary surgeon Dr Ambili T R echoes the view. The drive being conducted by Mission Rabies supplements ongoing efforts to curb issues related to stray dogs, including the animal birth control (ABC) and public awareness campaigns, she says. The ABC centre in Brahmapuram is already functioning, and we are looking to expand it further. The centre also has up to 27 kennels and space for dogs to play and rest. There are also four large caged enclosures. We also opened one centre in Tripunithura this year. There is a limit to how much a local civic body can do, so such collaborations are critical.

28 Nov 2025 8:56 am