Amritsar district admn forms panel to look into High Court orders on compensation in dog bite cases

Tribune News Service

Charanjit Singh Teja

Amritsar, November 16

With a stray dog population of over 40,000 and around 20 cases of dog bite reported daily in the city, it would be challenging for the government to give compensation as directed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The Amritsar Deputy Commissioner has constituted a committee to examine the case, following the court directions. The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently directed that the state government will be primarily responsible for paying compensation to victims of dog bites and the minimum financial assistance would be Rs 10,000 per tooth mark.

Around 20 to 30 persons, mainly children, visit the anti-rabies treatment centre at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital daily. The number of dog bite cases could be more as several instances are not reported with the victims applying home remedies as treatment.

Arshdeep Singh, a dog bite victim, said, “A furious dog bit me while feeding at Nehru Shopping Complex. I visited the anti-rabies treatment centre and got vaccinated.”

Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori said, “A committee has been constituted in this regard and it will examine the matter once we receive the case as per the directions of the court.”

Though the Amritsar Municipal Corporation has resumed the sterilisation of stray dogs at its Animal Birth Control Centre and around 30 canines are being sterilised daily, it would take four to five years to sterilise the total number of stray dogs in the city. The MC had proposed to establish an Animal Birth Control Centre in each assembly constituency to curb the stray dog population but there has been no development in the matter.

“Out of 30 to 40 routine dog bite cases, if 20 get the minimum compensation from the government, how would the district administration pay Rs 2 lakh daily to the victims? Instead of paying compensation, the money should be spent on controlling the stray dog population. The MC should register all the pets and collect fee from their owners to keep a tab on their population,” said advocate Randhir Sharma, a local resident.

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