Panaji: Animal welfare organisations in Goa have urged state govt to urgently overhaul its grant-in-aid scheme (GIA) for community dog sterilisation. They said that inadequate funding, restrictive conditions and long delays in reimbursements could undermine efforts to control the stray dog population in Goa.The Goa Animal Federation (GAF) is an umbrella group of animal NGOs that carry out most of Goa’s estimated 18,000 community dog sterilisation surgeries each year.Under the current grant-in-aid scheme, NGOs receive Rs 1,800 for each sterilised community dog. However, the GAF says the actual cost is more than Rs 3,500 per dog, including veterinary salaries, staff, medicines, fuel, food, boarding and other expenses.The GAF said that although the grant is supposed to be paid in advance, payments are often delayed by 18 to 24 months.GAF president K D Row said the current grant-in-aid (GIA) scheme administered by the animal husbandry and veterinary services (AHVS) department is no longer financially viable for organisations implementing sterilisation programmes under the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules.The federation said that govt subsidy covers barely half of the actual expenditure also cited a provision in the govt scheme that prevents participating NGOs from raising funds for sterilisation from other sources while availing govt grant.Apart from the funding shortfall, the GAF said reimbursements are being released long after the surgeries have been completed, creating severe cash-flow challenges for non-profit organisations.The GAF claimed that although the grant is intended to be released in advance, payments are often delayed by 18 to 24 months.They claimed one NGO received reimbursement in Jan 2026 for sterilisation work carried out during the 2024-25 financial year, approximately 21 months after beginning the programme. The same organisation, GAF said, is still awaiting reimbursement for surgeries undertaken from April 2025 onwards.Animal welfare groups argue that such delays force NGOs to finance programmes from their own resources for extended periods, making long-term operations difficult.The GAF has suggested increasing financial assistance to Rs 3,500 per sterilised dog to reflect actual costs, removing the restriction on NGOs accessing other sources of funding while receiving govt assistance, and ensuring grants are released in advance rather than months or years after the work.
