With 1,500 dogs, Divar island is overpopulated compared to its human population

Goemkarponn desk
DIVAR: With only about 1,500 dogs, the island of Divar is overpopulated compared to its human population, which was estimated to be about 5,000 in the 2011 census and may be as high as 6,000 at present.
There have been questions raised about the causes of the discrepancy in the human-dog population, such as the potential for mainlanders to leave their puppies on the island or the possibility that local dogs are thriving because of improved nutrition and lower death rates.
The director of Mission Rabies, Dr. Murugan Appupillai, stated that it is possible that individuals are shipping puppies by ferry and leaving them on the island, which could account for the rise in the number of dogs.
He emphasized that in order to stop the growth of the dogs, the authorities needed to step up their sterilisation efforts.
According to Dr. Appupillai, in addition to focusing on vaccinations, their efforts also involve educating the community about responsible pet ownership and population control strategies in order to keep the growth of dogs under control.
In order to support the campaign, residents and citizens in general are urged to vaccinate their pets and report any stray dogs to the assigned teams.
Two dogs at Divar recently tested positive for rabies, which prompted the panchayat and health officials to take immediate action to stop the disease from spreading throughout the island.