13,280 victims in city since ’13

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 27

Over the past 27 months, 13,280 residents have become victims of dog bite in the city. Going by the records available with the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, approximately 500 dog bite cases are reported from the city every month.

Since January 1, 2013, till March 15 this year, 13,280 cases have been reported from different parts of the city, affecting children as well as the elderly.

In fact, 1,188 cases of dog bite have been reported over the past three months alone. In January this year, a total of 607 dog bite patients registered at the anti-rabies dispensary in Sector 19, the lone centre providing treatment for rabid bites, while the number turned out to be 581 since February 1 till March 15.

“Of the 607 cases, 431 were stray dog bite cases and 176 pet dog bite cases. Of the 581 cases reported since February 1, 412 cases were stray dog bite cases and 169 pet dog bite cases,” said Rajiv Gupta, Joint Commissioner, Municipal Corporation.

Alarmingly, the population of stray dogs in the city has also been on the rise. In 2007, the number was 5,713. In the census conducted by the UT Animal Husbandry Department in 2013, the figure increased to 7,847. The population of dogs has seen an increase of 36 per cent since 2007.