Bhubaneswar: The civic authorities will conduct a canine census to ascertain the exact number of stray dogs in the Odisha capital here.

This was revealed by Mayor Sulochana Das today.

The officials will enumerate both stray and pet dogs during the census.

“All the dogs in the capital city will be ear-tagged during the census programme. The ear tag will have all information regarding the dogs, including their sterilization and vaccination,” said Das.

The data related to the owners of the pet dogs will be incorporated in the ear tag. On the other hand, the civic authorities will keep all details with regard to the territories of the stray dogs, Das added.

“The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will also conduct sterilization programme for stray dogs. After the sterilization programme, we can know whether the population of stray dogs is decreasing in the city or not,” said the Mayor.

As per reports, the capital city has over 80,000 stray dogs. The city reports several cases of dog bite daily.