Native dog research centre to come up in Tenkasi: TANUVAS VC

More people must come forward to embrace native breeds, says Minister

Indigenous dogs were much easier to maintain than exotic breeds, and more people must come forward to embrace native breeds, said P. Moorthy, Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration, at a national-level seminar on ‘Indigenous Dog Rearing and Dog Show’ held at Armed Reserve Police Ground here on Saturday.

The seminar was jointly organised by Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) and Veterinary College and Research Institute (VC and RI), Theni.

“We need to create more awareness of native breeds in cities too,” the Minister said.

K.N. Selvakumar, Vice-Chancellor, TANUVAS, told The Hindu that the native breeds were very easy to take care of as they were disease-resistant unlike foreign breeds. “To conserve native breeds, a native dog research centre will be set up in Tenkasi district. Similar centres to conserve native breeds of cows, sheep and goats will be set up in Tirunelveli and Dharmapuri districts,” he added.

More than 250 dogs of indigenous breeds such as Kanni, Chippiparai, Kombai and Rajapalayam from Theni, Madurai, Tenkasi, Coimbatore and Chennai participated in the event. They were judged by A.P. Nambi, a retired professor, TANUVAS, and Lakshmi Srinivasan of The Animal Care Clinic, Hyderabad, under categories such as breed, gender, age and physical characteristics.

“Dog varieties such as Kattakal, Mandhai and mongrels participated under ‘other categories’ as they are yet to be registered with the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources,” said an organising committee member.

Sessions were held on how to rear indigenous dogs, their reproductive management and rabies in animals.