In an effort to curb the government expenses on managing free-roaming dogs, Paro District Administration has handed over a dog shelter located at Jizhignag of Dopshari Gewog to Zeus for Stray and Homeless Dogs. Currently, the shelter has about 200 dogs and the Paro District Administration spends 150,000 ngultrum monthly to feed them.
Paro District Administration managed the shelter for 15 months by seeking manpower from the DeSuung Office.
However, with the completion of the Nationwide Accelerated Dog Population Management and Rabies Control Programme in October last year, the district administration was instructed to manage the shelter without the help of DeSuups. This, according to the district officials, was challenging due to budget constraints.
Paro District Administration has now signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nakulu Dog Shelter Management team or Zeus for Stray and Homeless Dogs.
The MoU emphasises providing better animal welfare and a conducive environment for dogs including sustainable and better management of the dog shelter.
The Paro District Administration agreed to collaborate in providing clinical veterinary services, screening of diseases, and sterilizing and vaccinating dogs in the shelter.
On the other hand, Zeus for Stray and Homeless Dogs will ensure food, water, care and managing shelters for the dogs.
Tenzin Wangchuk, the Dy. Chief Veterinary Officer in Paro said, ‘‘We have been managing the shelter for more than a year and it is not sustainable because we don’t have the allocated sheltering for dogs. When we hand it over to Zeus, we share the responsibility. Moreover, they have so many donors, so we are shifting our budget responsibility to them but technical treatment parts remain to us.’’
‘‘It is not sustainable for the government to run the shelter. As per the Livestock Act of Bhutan, we have specific animal welfare points to be followed. When the government agency takes up animal shelter care it is very difficult to provide animal welfare. We also face problems with financial support,’’ said Thinley Dorji, the Officiating Chief of the Livestock Office in Paro.
According to the Paro District Livestock Sector, they had discussed with all the Civil Society Organizations but only Zeus for Homeless and Stray Dogs agreed to take over the Jizhigang Dog Shelter.
‘‘They will be guided 24 hours. The dogs will be provided shelters with three meals and all the medical facilities. At the same time, the advantage of taking up Paro Dog Shelter is that it will help both the communities and the animals. We will run it like how we manage the Nakulu Dog Shelter,’’ said Thinley Norbu, the Program Director of Nakulu Dog Shelter in Thimphu.
The shelter was handed over yesterday coinciding with the celebration of the first anniversary of the Nakulu Dog Shelter. During the celebration, the management shared that the shelter spent about Nu 4.8 M for feeding dogs and making payments for the staff in a year. Of it, Nu 2.2 M was borne by the Nakulu Dog Shelter Management team and the rest was met from contributions made by the donors and supporters.
Currently, the Nakulu Dog Shelter has 10 staff looking after the welfare of 390 dogs including 48 dogs lifted during recent National Day.
Karma Wangdi
Edited by Phub Gyem
