Chandigarh seeks 'dog management' tips from Jaipur

India's first planned city Chandigarh is now looking at the Pink city of Rajasthan to get tips on managing stray dogs.

Jaipur has succeeded in substantially bringing down the stray dog population and also dog-bite cases in the last 10 years.

Punjab Governor-cum-Administrator, UT Chandigarh, V P Singh Badnore, said on Friday that a conference will be held to discuss the matter.

Badnore said there was a need for "dog management".

"I will not call it a menace, it has to be dog management. When I was MP, I had said two things, dogs and monkeys, they are not menace, but they need to be managed," he said.

Badnore, who had led a Special Task Force to rehabilitate tigers in Sariska in Rajasthan during 2005-09, said experts who have done good work in other cities will also share their experience in the upcoming conference here.

"We are going to hold a conference here, in which we will bring all stakeholders together," he said. Chandigarh Mayor Asha Kumari Jaswal, who along with Municipal Corporation Commissioner, B Purushartha, met Badnore and discussed various issues pertaining to the city, said "experts from Jaipur and other places will share their views and throw light on how the stray dog problem can be effectively tackled".

Jaipur was one of the first cities to start an animal birth control programme, based on WHO guidelines, back in 1994.

To deal with the stray dog issue, the municipal corporations of the tricity--Chandigarh, Mohali (Punjab) and Panchkula (Haryana) have joined hands, Jaswal said. Among other steps, a joint coordination team would also be formed to deal with the stray dog issue, she said.

Several incidents of dog bite cases have been reported from the tricity.