MCD Launches Stray Dog Microchipping Pilot Project at Bijwasan ABC Centre
On Friday, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) launched a new pilot project to implant microchips in stray dogs at the Animal Birth Control (ABC) centre in Bijwasan, New Delhi. The initiative aims to streamline the tracking of canine sterilisation and vaccination records, helping the civic body monitor its population control efforts and ensure the accountability of partner organisations.
The project is being implemented in partnership with the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Friendicoes-SESCA, which operates the Bijwasan facility. Power distribution companies BRPL and BYPL are funding the initiative, enabling the NGO to implant the microchips free of cost under a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) model.
While Friendicoes-SESCA operates multiple MCD-run ABC centres across the city, civic officials confirmed that the microchipping facility has initially been introduced only at the Bijwasan centre. Approximately 600 dogs are sterilised every month at this specific location, and all of these animals will now be vaccinated and microchipped as part of the routine process.
Syed, the project coordinator of Friendicoes-SESCA, stated that the microchipping initiative will also be rolled out at the Ghazipur ABC Centre in the future. The tracking data stored on each implanted microchip will be uploaded to a centralised dashboard, which the MCD can easily access to monitor progress.
This microchipping drive is part of a series of measures that the MCD has officially assured the Supreme Court of India it will undertake to control the stray dog population in the national capital. Alongside a proposed dog census, the microchips will help maintain highly accurate records of the sterilisation and vaccination activities carried out by various partner NGOs.
The tracking system will also allow authorities to verify whether sterilised dogs are breeding. Under existing MCD guidelines, the civic body can take punitive action against the concerned NGO if any supposedly sterilised dogs are found to be breeding.
