The Lucknow Municipal Corporation has opened an Animal Birth Control training centre in Indira Nagar to improve the sterilisation, anti-rabies vaccination and scientific management of dogs across the city. The facility will train veterinarians, para-veterinary staff and animal handlers under the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023.
The centre can accommodate 30 participants at a time and includes an operation theatre with two operating tables, a preparation room, two classrooms and a conference room. The facility is intended to build specialised capacity within the teams involved in Lucknow’s dog population control programme.
Urban development minister A K Sharma inaugurated the centre, while Lucknow mayor Sushma Kharakwal presided over the programme. Sharma said animal welfare and public safety needed to work together, adding that the training centre would strengthen sterilisation, vaccination and the scientific management of dogs.
Kharakwal said the centre had been established through a tripartite agreement involving the Lucknow Municipal Corporation, the Animal Welfare Board of India and the Uttar Pradesh government. Humane World for Animals will conduct the training at the facility.
The centre formalises a training component within a programme that the civic body has been running with Humane World for Animals since September 2019. According to the report, 1.08 lakh dogs have been sterilised through the programme so far.
For the municipal corporation, the facility links three operational responsibilities: controlling the growth of the street-dog population, expanding anti-rabies vaccination and ensuring that animal-handling practices follow the rules. The creation of a dedicated operation theatre and classrooms also gives the programme a permanent base for training and procedures rather than relying only on periodic field operations.
The centre’s effectiveness will depend on how consistently trained personnel are deployed across Lucknow and how the sterilisation and vaccination work is monitored. The immediate next step is the training of veterinarians, para-veterinary staff and animal handlers at the Indira Nagar facility under the tripartite arrangement.
