With 1,500 dog bite cases per month, Amritsar residents reel under fear

The city is witnessing an alarming rise in the number of dog bites with 50 being reported daily across private and government hospitals. This amounts to nearly 1,500 cases a month, and official records show that in 2023 alone, 18,000 people in the city were bitten by dogs.

While the Amritsar Municipal Corporation claims to be tackling the problem through sterilisation drives, the slow pace of the process is drawing criticism. At the Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres in Fatehgarh Shukarchak and Naranigarh, around 25 dogs are sterilised each day. Over the past two years, around 20,000 dogs have been sterilised.

Residents, however, argue that the sterilization rate is too slow to curb the growing canine population on streets and in neighbourhoods. They also stress the need for dog shelters, citing the Supreme Court directions to establish such facilities in the Delhi-NCR areas.

Ravi Kumar, a city resident, said the sterilisation drive must be intensified as the rising number of stray dogs is directly linked to frequent street attacks. Social activist Pawan Sharma described the menace as “severe”, especially for children who are often targeted. “Every lane is unsafe. Children are the most vulnerable. The Supreme Court’s orders should be implemented everywhere and the administration must find a permanent solution,” he said.

Personal accounts paint a grim picture. Despite repeated complaints, residents say no lasting solution to the menace has been found. Sukhdev Singh, whose minor nephew was bitten while feeding bread to a dog, narrated the ordeal at the anti-rabies wings of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. Baijnath, a sanitation worker at Veer Enclave on the bypass, said a pack of 15 dogs attacked him early one morning while he was at work, but he escaped with difficulty. Parents now personally escort their children to school to avoid attacks.

Municipal Corporation Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh said the number has now reached 20,000, with another 20,000 targeted for the future.