Gurugram, March 31 -- A firm assigned by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) to carry out vaccination and sterilisation of stray dogs lacks mandatory project recognition from the Animal Welfare Board of India, members of the statutory body have alleged, saying the agency is operating in violation of Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules. Anjali Gopalan, an AWBI member, said no agency can operate without a project recognition certificate. "An agency must obtain this certificate to ensure that proper procedures are followed. Until the certificate is issued by AWBI, no agency is authorised to sterilise, vaccinate, or even pick up stray dogs," she said. Under ABC Rules, two recognitions are required - agency recognition by AWBI, and project recognition under Section 5, which mandates that no street dog sterilisation or vaccination program can be conducted without it. HT has checked the rules and confirmed the allegations. Maa Baglamukhi, awarded the tender in November last year, commenced operations on January 28 without project-level recognition, according to MCG officials. Ashish Singhla, chief medical officer at MCG, said the agency has been directed to secure project recognition. "Since there is a significant gap in the vaccination and sterilisation of stray dogs, we asked the agency to commence operations. The rules provide a six-month window to obtain the necessary recognition, and failure to do so within this period will result in the agency being blacklisted." Gopalan maintained that any agency cannot commence ABC operations without project recognition. "This is a complete violation of Section 5 of ABC Rules," she said. Pankaj Shukla, vice-president of Maa Baglamukhi, admitted the firm is operating without the required recognition. "We have applied for the project recognition in February and we are hoping we will receive the certificate soon." During a spot-check at the agency's Baliyawas facility, HT found at least 30 dogs kept at the premises. Meanwhile, a supervisor at the site, asking not to be named, said they began operations in January and have picked up stray dogs after receiving complaints from residents....