Nagpur’s Animal Birth Control (ABC) program stands exposed as a web of lies, negligence, and financial rot. An RTI filed by activist Smita Mire has unearthed manipulated records, blatant law violations, and possible embezzlement of public funds — all while dogs suffer and die under the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) watch.
From 2019 to 2025, NMC’s three ABC centers — Bhandewadi (Vets for Animals, Satara), Maharajbag (Swatantra Animal Welfare Society, Hyderabad), and Gorewada (Krishna Society for Animal, Pune) — reported 42,656 sterilizations. Official death toll? Six dogs. Activists call it a “mathematical joke.” Maharajbag brazenly claims zero deaths since 2024, yet photographic, video, and witness evidence proves at least four unreported fatalities — including one dog killed after a violent capture.
A December 2024 post-mortem from Bhandewadi confirmed a sterilized dog died, its body so decomposed that cause of death was “undeterminable.” At Gorewada, just one death was reported, but eyewitnesses saw far more.
The RTI also reveals horror stories of surgical negligence — stitches bursting, intestines spilling out, post-surgery infections left untreated. In one incident, all four dogs from Symbiosis College died within a week of release from distemper and surgical weakness. Adding insult to injury, NMC employees charged for their burial.
Financial records stink of mismanagement. The program is funded entirely by taxpayers — zero rupees from the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) or the State Welfare Board. In six years, NMC could produce only 11 months of electricity bills totaling ₹7,49,158. Even worse, ₹7 crore was sanctioned for a Bhandewadi shelter to house just 200 dogs — a shocking potential misuse of funds.
The legal breaches are blatant. Under the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023, AWBI recognition is mandatory. None of Nagpur’s centers have it. AWBI’s February 2025 inspection found overcrowded kennels, no sterilization autoclaves, filthy conditions, and inhumane treatment.
“This is cruelty disguised as governance,” thundered Smita Mire. “Claiming near-zero deaths in over 42,000 surgeries isn’t efficiency — it’s fraud. The NMC must face consequences, or even Supreme Court orders will be reduced to paper trash.”
Animal welfare groups are clear: the dogs are not the problem — the corrupt, unmonitored system is. And unless it’s ripped apart and rebuilt, Nagpur’s ABC program will remain a killing field funded by its own citizens.
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