The Animal Care Section (TCACS) of Tibet Charity organised 4 day Animal Birth Control (ABC) and Anti Rabies Vaccination (A-R) camp at the Tibetan settlement Tashi Jong from 12th to 15th September 2016. Our regular vet Dr. Pankaj Sharma conducted the camp and he was assisted by our vet assistant Mr. Tsering Gyaltsen.

During the camp, 36 dogs were sterilized out of which 13 were males and 25 females. Besides these, a total of 52 dogs received A-R vaccination. Two dogs with serious maggot wounds were picked up from there and brought to our clinic at Dharamsala. These two dogs will be taken back to Tashi Jong once they fully recover from the wounds.

We have organised few camps in the past at Tashi Jong and we intend to do so in the future so that dog population can be kept under reasonable control in a humane way and also to prevent the spread of rabies among the canine population in the region.

We have always encouraged controlling the dog population by means of sterilization rather than picking them up and dumping them elsewhere or killing them. Dogs exist in any area because there is uncollected garbage and rats. If these dogs are removed, they will be replaced by other dogs or even more dangerously, rats.  On the other hand, if left in the area, they will defend it against other dogs and prevent them from entering the colony. Once the existing population is sterilized, the numbers will over time decrease. These sterilised dogs will be less aggressive meaning less threat to human population and less fight among themselves.

We are very thankful to the Tibetan settlement office and Regional Tibetan Youth Congress at Tashi Jong who not only hosted our team during the period of the camp but also helped our team in catching dogs.

We are also very grateful to the Animal Care Team of ladies who had come all the way from Bir to help our team throughout the period of the camp.

Last, but not the least, we thank Brigitte Bardot Foundation France who have funded the camp.