The State Animal Welfare Board of Kerala met on December 19 and decided on new steps to control stray and pet dogs. They will recommend the Local Self-Governments (LSG) department increase vaccination for stray dogs. The board also plans to suggest changes in Kerala’s Panchayat Raj and Municipalities Acts to stop pet dogs from being left on streets. The meeting was led by Animal Husbandry Minister J. Chinchurani. The board demands that licences become mandatory for all pet dogs. They want microchips installed on pets to track vaccinations. This move follows the Supreme Court’s November 7 order asking states to remove stray dogs from public spaces and send them to shelters after vaccination and sterilisation. The board also plans to urge the LSG department to build isolation kennels in all panchayats for sick or aggressive dogs. Meetings will be held with dog shelter operators to improve shelter conditions. The board will suggest forming Shelter Management Committees at the district level, as the Supreme Court directed. Besides seven portable animal birth control (ABC) units run by the Animal Husbandry department, the LSG department will set up new ABC units in all block panchayats without one. People’s committees will be created in areas where there is resistance to opening ABC centres. The board will also use the Kerala Solutions for Managing Administrative Reformation and Transformation (K-SMART) project to make pet dog licence issuance easier.