Jaipur: The state Budget presented Wednesday allocated Rs 40 cr for building dog shelters, a move that left animal activists and animal lovers dissatisfied. They argued that the focus should be on animal birth control (ABC) programmes, in line with Supreme Court directions, rather than only on creating shelter infrastructure.Animal activist Santana Khurana said the Supreme Court clearly stated that dogs should be placed in shelters only after undergoing ABC. “To address public safety concerns, it is essential to control the population of stray dogs. If ABC is ignored, the number of dogs on the streets will continue to rise, making the problem more serious. The govt should allocate funds for animal welfare and ABC programmes,” she said.Khurana pointed out that the capacity of ABC centres in Jaipur and other parts of Rajasthan is very limited. “In a meeting with the Chief Secretary, all stakeholders, including municipal contractors, JMC’s Commissioner, the state animal welfare board and district collectors, stressed the need to increase ABC capacity. If funds are allocated, 70% should go towards ABC programmes and only 30% towards shelters. ABC centres require trained veterinarians and post-operative care facilities, while shelters alone cannot address the issue,” she added.Another animal activist, Mariam Abuhaideri, expressed serious concern over the budget approach. “This budget reflects a worrying misunderstanding of animal and public health policy. Allocating a large amount only for shelters, while excluding funding for animal birth control, anti-rabies vaccination and public awareness, ignores decades of scientific evidence and the WHO’s One Health framework. Shelters without parallel investment in sterilisation and vaccination will lead to overcrowding, disease spread and invisible suffering. Public safety and animal welfare are inseparable,” she said.When TOI contacted for clarification on how the budget would be allocated, DLB Secretary Ravi Jain was unavailable for comment.
