Dog dies, victims petrified

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 23

Stray dog terror has gripped residents of Sector 15 a day after a canine attacked 11 persons. While  the  sight of stray dogs now scares those residing in the  sector, the death of the dog has left the victims panicked. 

The stray dog, which went on a biting spree for hours in the sector   early on Saturday morning, died later. Though officials  of the  SPCA  said they  could not say whether the dog had  symptoms of rabies, the victims  are  worried. They are also worried about the high cost of treatment as they do not have enough money for buying the costly injection. VM Chopra, a retired   government officer, said the injection cost him Rs 30,000.  Sukhdev, who was seriously  injured  after being bitten, said he was  worried  after hearing  the news of the  death of the  dog. He said the doctor told him that he would have to be  given an injection costing over Rs 30,000  after the  death of the  dog. He said no one visited him after he was bitten.  

Mohammad Irshad, who works as a motor mechanic in the Sector 15 market, said he did not have enough money to buy the injection from the market. Kanhaiya, who works as the  caretaker at a toilet, said arranging  the  amount for treatment was not possible  for  him. Mayor  Asha  Jaswal  said she  spoke to  some victims  today  and assured them of proper  treatment at dispensaries.   

35 stray dogs vaccinated   

MC teams carried out  an extensive  vaccination  drive in Sector 15 throughout the day. 

Over 35 dogs  were  vaccinated. An officer said stray dogs which were  not sterilised earlier were vaccinated  as  a precautionary  measure. Six more cases of dog bite were reported at the Sector 16  hospital on Sunday.   

Brain sample of dog to be sent to CRI, Kasauli 

The Department of Animal  Husbandry has decided to send a brain  sample of the  stray dog which died  after biting  people to the Kasauli-based Central Research Institute (CRI) on Monday.  Sources   in the SPCA said the test would confirm whether or not the dog  was suffering from rabies. An official said when the dog was brought from the Sector 15 market around noon yesterday,  it was  not ferocious. Blood was coming out of its mouth. He said the dog died within half an hour of being brought from Sector 15. 

The official ruled out the possibility of the dog being beaten up by residents. He said when catchers reached  near the  dog, it  started  running which  showed that  it was not injured. The last rabid case from the city was reported  in March 2015 when a  dog, which had bitten 13 persons, including seven children, in Mani Majra,   was found rabid. The  dog had died  after  attacking the  victims. 

MC reduces target    

While the  city is in the grip of stray dog terror, the  MC has  reduced the per month sterilisation target in the  new tender  floated this month. Sources said the  MC had  reduced  the  target  from 400  to 200. An officer said in the past  two years, a majority  of the  dogs  were sterilised   and that was why the target  had been reduced.