Shahin Bepari Lambe
Panaji: The Quepem Municipal Council (QMC) has adopted a digital, citizen-assisted approach using QR code and a Google Form to map pet dogs, stray dogs and stray cattle, even as other municipalities mainly carrying out the animal enumeration through manual ward-wise field surveys.
Through the QR code, residents can identify animals in their neighbourhoods and upload photographs along with location or GPS details. They can also provide information on whether a dog is a pet or stray and its vaccination and sterilisation status.
“The exercise is aimed at creating a more reliable database of animals while avoiding the same animal being counted more than once,” said QMC chief officer Pankaj Rane.
He said the digital submissions would be treated only as preliminary inputs, scrutinised for duplication and subsequently verified through the prescribed ward-wise physical survey by municipal officials before being incorporated into the final official animal count.
Residents have been asked to scan the QR code, identify animals and upload their photographs. If the vaccination status of a dog is not known, it can be marked as “not known”. A cut on a dog’s ear can help identify a sterilised animal.
“We have circulated the QR code to all the locals through representatives of the municipality. We have just started the survey so till now there must be less than 5% we have covered,” Rane said.
The response, however, has been slow so far. “The public campaign started only a few days ago and Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations also affected the response,” he said.
Rane said an earlier survey by the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary
Services (AHVS) Department had estimated Goa’s dog population at around 1.20 lakh.
NGOs, workers, schools, public representatives and resident groups are also being involved in identifying animals across different areas.
The field-level survey by authorities is scheduled to begin on October 1.
Information submitted through the QR code will not automatically become part of the final count.
Officials have also appealed to pet owners, feeders, volunteers, residents and other stakeholders to cooperate with the survey teams.
