Kalu was first brought to the polyclinic in Sahid Nagar six months ago for a sterilisation operation. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, April 6: For little Kalu, it was a homecoming of sorts when he returned to the veterinary polyclinic at Sahid Nagar last month.

But this time, he was not there as a patient but as a watchdog. The stray dog, which had first landed up at the clinic six months ago, now watches over the kennel that houses 120 canines.

The kennel is part of the polyclinic run by the animal husbandry department where the dogs are either brought for sterilisation or for treatment of different diseases.

“Kalu had come to the clinic first for sterilisation,” said veterinary surgeon Sashi Bhusan Swain.

“After his operation six months ago, we had sent him back to the Old Town area to which he belonged. However, Kalu followed our van each time he spotted it in the area. About a month ago he followed it all the way back to the clinic. Now, we are using his services as a security dog,” said Swain.

Kalu, however, is not the only dog to have fallen in love with the kennel at Sahid Nagar. Another stray dog Brownie from Jharpada area also returned to the place last month and has been staying there since.

“However, Kalu is more popular as he is very active and guards the kennel day and night,” Swain added.

Most of the dogs come to the kennel for sterilisation. However, people also call up the clinic when they find animals in distress.

“If the injury is serious, then at least for a week the animals need to stay at the kennel. We take care of the treatment including medicines and food during their stay at the kennel,” said Swain.

Recently, the wife of a senior officer of Nalco called us when she found an injured dog near their colony.

“We brought the animal and now he is out of danger and stays in the same colony from where he was brought for treatment,” said Swain.

Bikram Behera from Seven Acres area in Chandrasekharpur said: “The clinic at Sahid Nagar is extending all help to animal lovers. Many residents of our colony have also received the help of the clinic as all of them are canine lovers.”

While the entire sterilisation process for stray dogs of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is carried out with the help of Society for Protection of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), a wing under the animal husbandry department at the Sahid Nagar clinic, the birth control programme runs under the guidance of veterinary expert Mahesh Chandra Mishra, a consultant with the SPCA. There are also plans to open centres in Rourkela, Paradip, Berhampur, Cuttack and Sambalpur.