Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 29 (IANS): With stray dog menace becoming a major public concern in Kerala and many other states, Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) has convened an 'Ideathon' to tap novel ideas from start-ups as well as individuals to tackle the issue.

The stray dog menace is on the rise post which the Kerala government had moved the apex court to get permission to kill dangerous dogs.

KSUM chief Anoop Ambika said "through the 'Ideathon', we are looking at pragmatic and sustainable ideas and projects that can be leveraged by the government agencies and civic institutions to carry out effective steps to address the problem, including vaccination, spaying and other canine breeding control measures."

"Encouraging start-ups having socially-relevant ideas have been a key mandate of KSUM ever since its inception. It could be for the first time that a nodal agency like KSUM is seeking to elicit from young, bright minds novel ideas and pragmatic solutions that could effectively tackle stray dog menace," said Ambika.

To begin with, start-ups can suggest ideas and solutions to step up awareness drive, sanitation, and methods of spotting stray dogs, training to catch dogs, making shelters to keep dogs caught from streets and adoption and rehabilitation of stray dogs.

KSUM will provide financial and technical assistance to implement the best ideas and solutions.