Mysore/Mysuru: Walk around the city and one will find hundreds of dogs tied to the gates or living under harsh conditions at all open spaces and nearby hotels and street food-joints.

With many recent events of dog biting, residents are at loggerheads with stray dog feeders. Amid this, a street dog rehabilitation centre is coming up at Rayanakere that will provide food, shelter and medical care to community dogs or street dogs.

A first-of-its-kind initiative in Karnataka, the dog home will be opened by Dec. 25 and hundreds of strays from the core city areas will be shifted here. The rehabilitation home is being built at a cost of Rs. 4 crore in a 3.4-acre land. Krishnaraja MLA S.A. Ramdas inspected the facility yesterday and asked the officers to speed up the work.

“We have been receiving complaints about stray dog menace and their ever-increasing population despite several birth-control measures. There were sporadic incidents of dog attacks and dog bites as well. Some residents were venting their anger against dog feeders, blaming them for the menace. We have to look at the problem with compassion,” he said.

“Strays have to bear the vagaries of weather with temperatures dropping to low levels and also rains. While people stay cosy and comfortable indoors, these strays suffer in algid weather. The intention of the shelter is to protect the animals and at the same time, bring down their menace on the streets,” Ramdas said.

Haphazard urban planning and overpopulation have led to a correspondingly huge population of street dogs.

“We have seen how street dogs suffered during lockdown and we have also seen how they were fed and taken care of by many concerned citizens and stray lovers. With the new shelter coming up, the residents and even the strays can breathe easy as the food and shelter of strays will be taken care of,” he added.

The dog shelter will have a couple of sections where the strays will be given shelter. While healthy dogs will be housed in one section, the other will house sick strays. There will be a separate section for seriously ill dogs and facilities for treatment will be provided. There will be an exclusive section for pups, officers said.

Once the stray shelter is established, the public can contribute to the animal welfare through donations and also by donating food items.

“A play park will be established so that dog-lovers can celebrate birthday parties or any other important events with the strays. Also, three vehicles will be deputed to collect good quality leftovers from bakeries in the city to be supplied to the strays in the shelter,” officers added.

Mayor Shivakumar, Deputy Mayor Dr. G. Roopa, Deputy Director of Animal Husbandry Dr. Shadaksharamurthy and others were present during the MLA’s inspection.