As municipal staff and nongovernmental animal rights defenders engaged in sterilizing stray dogs in Chisinau are apparently unable to cope with the task, the municipality asks the State Veterinary Service and private clinics to join in, Info-Prim Neo reports. New dogcatcher implements will be bought by the end of this week, and if private clinics accept the offer, the number of dogs caught and sterilized will be considerably higher, Deputy Mayor Vlad Cotet told a City Hall meeting on Monday. Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca said he would suggest the City Council at its Thursday's meeting to consider allocating extra money to castrate 1,000 male dogs and spay 1,000 female dogs. “This would mean roughly 500,000 lei. Then we'll see what other funds are needed”, said Chirtoaca. The mayor says that the State Veterinary Service could set up a control desk to supervise and keep record of the interventions. “All that the private vet clinics will have to do is just to tell us which days the interventions are made. This way we could avoid overcrowding”, Chirtoaca said. The money for sterilization will be transferred to the State Veterinary Service, which will then distribute it to the veterinary clinics performing the surgeries. According to Deputy Nistor Grozavu, spaying female dogs would be the best solution, as the post-surgery care in the case of male dogs takes longer and requires extra room. If released before a complete recovery, they could get sick and become infection carriers. 14 private veterinary clinics could be engaged in the sterilization campaign, but only four of them have a license to carry out such surgeries, Chisinau's vet chief Radu Mudreac informed. At the same time, Mudreac advocated against the idea of involving private clinics in the process, as bringing stray dogs and companion animals in close vicinity could sicken the latter. He also suggested that old and sick stray dogs should be euthanized at the compound administrated by the Motorsanitation Division. In retort, Motorsanitation head Tudor Maniv has said the compound lacks proper conditions for performing sterilization and euthanasia operations. This is why the division will further restrict its efforts to catching and transporting the dogs. According to the State Veterinary Service, the cost of sterilizing a male dog is 90 lei and of spaying a female dog is 180 lei.