The problem of stray dogs is very outstanding in Armenia on the whole and in Dilijan particularly. As a tourist destination it is very important to solve the issue as fast as possible. Although Dilijan is one of the biggest and highly populated cities of Armenia, there were no veterinary clinics operating there until recently. Dilijan Development Foundation with the support of voluntary groups of animal lovers located in the city has founded a charitable vet clinic which is going to take care of the neutralization of the stray animals of the city. Dogs who are in good condition will be surgically neutered by qualified and experienced veterinary surgeons. Ovario-hysterectomy will be performed on the females and castration on the males. We believe that animal care should follow very high standards, therefore a lot of emphasis is placed on hygiene and cleanliness. The operated dogs will be kept for a period of 1 day until they are completely healed.
The dog’s ear will be notched while it is under anesthesia so that the dog can later easily be identified as sterilized.
The dogs will then be vaccinated against rabies and released, either by the catching staff or by our staff/ volunteers.
Although operating females has more immediate results on the dog population, we believe it is very important to sterilize males as well, since this reduces barking, fighting and aggression.
Following the guidelines of the World Health Organization and the international and local successful experience stray dogs will be surgically neutered by qualified and experienced veterinary surgeons. Dog sterilization is internationally recognized as the most humanistic method of reducing stray animals’ popularity.
