Canine scare gets MC moving

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 30

Admitting that the stray dog menace was posing a major challenge to the civic body, Mayor Asha Jaswal has decided to call a special meeting of experts and stakeholders on the issue soon.

Jaswal said besides the experts, the mayors of Panchkula and Mohali would also be invited to attend the meeting as the problem required a joint strategy. No city could deal with the challenge in isolation. The situation had become serious after two successive cases of rabid dogs biting residents being reported in a week.

A dog had gone on a biting spree leaving 12 persons injured on April 22 in Sector 15. A week later, six persons, including three women and teenagers, were bitten by a stray dog at Mauli Jagran. In both cases, the dogs died the same day after attacking the residents. The Mayor has also issued instructions to the authorities to start a cleanliness drive around eateries, especially near roadside meat and chicken shops, to keep a check on stray dogs.The Mayor has directed the officers concerned to increase the budget for providing medicines free of cost to dog-bite victims. She reviewed the availability of medicines today and said money would not be a constraint for the dog-bite victims.

8 more bitten

There is no let-up in the stray dog menace with eight fresh cases of dog bite being reported at the Sector 16 hospital on Sunday.

Dogs under observation

The Department of Animal Husbandry has started anti-rabies treatment of seven dogs bitten by a rabid dog at Mauli Jagran on Friday. Dr Kanwarjeet Singh, Joint Director of the department, said they had started the vaccination of the dogs and would keep them under observation for a month.

Mauli residents terrified

Days after six persons, including three women and teenagers, were bitten by a stray dog at Mauli village near Mauli Jagran, the victims and  residents of the  area are a panicky lot after learning that the dog was rabid. Sukhdev  Singh of the  locality said he had stopped his children from going outside the house after the incident. He said there were a large number of stray dogs in the area and no one came there to  sterilise dogs.

Check dog menace: FOSWAC

The vice-chairman of the  Federation of Sectors Welfare Association of Chandigarh, Hitesh Puri, said "an effective decision" should be taken to curb the dog menace. He suggested that sterilisation should be carried out regularly and the government should pay for the treatment of dog-bite victims.