Thiruvananthapuram: The veterinarian who launched Thiruvananthapuram Corporation's Rabies and Animal Birth Control (R-ABC) programme in July has been taken off it. Sources in animal husbandry department allege that a political leader has pulled strings to put a new vet in charge. A government order issued towards the end of September says that he is not in charge of the project anymore. Several components of the R-ABC project have been put on hold, as the vet, who launched the programme, had gone for a three-month training. Mayor V. K. Prasanth told DC that they were waiting for the doctor to take charge. However, neither he nor health standing committee chairperson K. Sreekumar was aware of the government order. They said that the doctor would be put back in charge.
One of the projects under the R-ABC umbrella which was waiting for the nodal officer to take charge is setting up of Thiruvallam ABC centre. The corporation had written to the directorate of sports and youth affairs, but no one has followed up on it. Another activity which has been hit is the anti-rabies vaccination drive. The veterinarian, who had been temporarily put in charge of the project, told DC that only dogs, which were brought in for sterilisation, were administered rabies vaccination.
Even if there may be many more sterilised dogs which might need booster doses, there have been no drives for those. Moreover, the corporation had launched a microchip project to ensure that every dog in the city, including strays, gets rabies vaccination regularly. This would help track dogs if breeders abandon them, health officials had argued. It turns out that there has been a lukewarm response to the breeders' license issued by the corporation, with just one breeder turning up at Pettah hospital.
