3 days on, vendor yet to be arrested

Rajinder S Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, July 5

Three days have passed since a street vendor allegedly thrashed 76-year-old Wing Commander Jagjit Singh (retd) over feeding of stray dogs in Sector 7, but the police have not arrested the accused vendor yet. 

Volunteers of the Animal Welfare Association are claiming that people have now started objecting to feeding stray dogs.  Sector 5 police station SHO Karamvir said the accused vendor had also received injuries and he was hospitalised. However, now he had been discharged and would be arrested once he was medically fit, he said.

Wing Commandar Jagjit Singh said the police had only lodged an FIR but had not arrested the accused yet. 

On feeding of stray dogs, he said once he was fit, he would go out and definitely feed them. “A dog is a loyal animal and if you love it, it will also love you in return,” he said.

Meenakshi Mahapatra of the Panchkula Animal Welfare Association said they were now getting calls from their volunteers as people had started stopping them for feeding stray dogs.

Due to fear of stray dogs, panicky residents are stopping the volunteers from feeding them. However, instead of stopping them, people should feed dogs because they also need food just like human beings. It is a misconception among people that stray dogs attack. They also want love and care and that is what the volunteers were doing, she said. 

Besides, there was no law which could stop volunteers from feeding stray dogs, she said. 

However, there are people who have a different point of view. Varun Gupta, a Panchkula resident, said recently his daughter was attacked by stray dogs and people should stop feeding them.   

Dog shelter being constructed

MC Commissioner Rajesh Jogpal said they had initiated a number of steps to deal with the stray dog menace. He said they had started the construction of a dog shelter home in Sukhdarshanpur village, decided to install ultrasonic repellers at public places and started the sterilisation of stray dogs as well.