New Delhi: Stray dogs in the country will be neutered over the next 10 years, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has said.
There are an estimated 8 million stray dogs in the country and sterilizing them will help eradicate rabies, which the World Health Organization estimates kills around 20,000 people in the country every year.
The country imports rabies vaccines worth Rs 400 crore each year, Ramesh said at book release function in New Delhi on Friday.
He announced the Government has decided to allot Rs 200 crore for the project to neuter stray dogs. It will prepare a plan on how to involve state governments and municipalities in the project.
Authorities in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai have been neutering stray dogs for the past few years, scrapping the controversial method of killing the animals.
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