Farmer mauled to death by stray dogs in his fields

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, January 28

A farmer was mauled to death by stray dog in his own fields at Badiala village of Rampura tehsil in the district.

As per information, Gurtej Singh had gone to his fields to drive away the stray dogs, which were destroying his crops.

While he was doing so, stray dogs attacked him and he was found dead by his son who went to the fields in search of his father.

On an average, two residents become the target of stray dogs every day in the city.

Sources said around 730 residents have been bitten by stray dogs in the last one year.

A doctor at the Civil Hospital said stray dog menace was quite high these days as, on an average, they receive two patients of dog bite every day.

Despite high claims of sterilisation of dogs by the Animal Husbandry Department, the situation has not improved. Officials of the department claim that in the last one and a half year, they have sterilised around 1,200 stray dogs.

Even as the problem is on the rise, the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) has failed to launch the much-awaited sterilisation project to control the growing number of canines.

As per the census conducted in 2009, there were 5,237 stray dogs within the municipal limits in the city and now, the number has grown manifold.

Mayor Balwant Rai Nath said the dog sterilisation project would start soon as they had already received the funds. As per norms, canines would be caught, operated upon, fed and then released after due medical care, he added.

The Mayor said proper diet would be given to the dogs. The cost of procedure would be around Rs 450 per dog.