All dogs correctly tagged
Note: The Voice of Stray Dogs ‘audit’ is carried out by our volunteers without any prior information to either the NGO or BBMP to correctly verify the level of execution of ABC at these centers. This is the first time The Voice of Stray Dogs visited this particular ABC center. Vet Society’s Chamrajpet Center report can be seen here. AWS, ARF, Sarvodaya’s ABC Centers have been visited before
Audit found the facility to be a very well run ABC Center , with higher than norm standards in surgery. The recovery area should be cleaner to keep with the post surgery CNVR mandate and should be improved.
When ‘The Voice of Stray Dog’ team entered the ABC area, the team of Vet Society was already busy with surgeries. Normally ARF is present as well, but their van had a break down.
The following are the observations from the visit:
- The team was friendly and showed us the whole area willingly.
- Two vets and one assistant were available for the surgeries.
- Two vans were busy catching dogs on that day and in total they caught 21 dogs.
- The catch and release sheets were filled in accurately and the dogs tagged accordingly.
- The pre-surgery area was clean and the shaving part was done by one person.
- The operation theater was set-up in a hygienic manner and everything was well maintained and organized.
- This time the team has even used a medical sheet for the dogs – which is a very welcome improvement.
- The recovery area was adequate but due to shortage of space too far away from the vets. In case something goes wrong with the dogs, the vet can’t really make out whether it’s a harmless howling or something more serious. But the manager told me that the whole team keeps an eye on the dogs. Dogs were lying on dust and leaves in the recovery area. ‘The Voice of Stray Dog’ team suggested was that they put a canvas or plastic sheet on the stone floor, which would be much more hygienic for the dogs.
Area of improvement: Complaint handling (Note: no wrong drops were observed in practice – this observation relates only to the discussion with the team on location)
When asking about handling complaints and if they release the dogs in the same area ‘The Voice of Stray Dog’ team got confusing answers.
- A vet’s version: One vet said that the dogs won’t be released in the same area. ‘The Voice of Stray Dog’ team told him that he should know that this is not possible and against the ABC SOP. Then he said, that only the rabid dogs and aggressive dogs stay under observation and that only rabid dogs will be put down!
- Catchers version: When asking the catchers, they said they would release in the same area after sterilization and vaccination and that they would counsel the people.
- Managers version: The manager told us that all her staff is trained to release the dogs in the same area and that relocation would not happen and that the vet might not know it.
‘The Voice of Stray Dog’ team hope it was just confusion between vet and workers and that the complaint issues are handled in a proper way. The complaint sheet had no comments.
General observation: A very well maintained ABC center.
