Hyderabad: Beware! Stray dogs on the prowl in city

Hyderabad: The number of dog bite cases in the city has gone up to 50 per day with Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) failing to find a solution to check the rising stray dog population. Consequently, the State-run Koranti Fever Hospital in Nallakunta has reported 354 cases of dog bites within a week.

According to the Veterinary department of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), there are more than 4 lakh stray dogs in GHMC, of which two lakhs were sterilised in February 2021.

Locals said that dog menace has now become a serious matter of concern as children have become victims of dog bite infections. "The Fever Hospital gets dog bite cases on a daily basis," said a senior doctor from the hospital.

Sahasra, a 8-year-old girl from Hayat Nagar, said while she was playing with her friend in front of her house. Suddenly a street dog came and attacked her due to which she received serious injury. Sahasra's parents immediately took her to the nearby Vanasthalipuram Area Hospital for treatment but they refused to treat her as there was no anti-rabies injection available with the hospital. Later, they had to rush to the Fever Hospital.

"Often children found playing in colonies and in residential areas including 'Basthis' where many street dogs are present. Once dogs see children, they get aggressive and attack them," said Piyush, a resident of Vanasthalipuram.

Doctors said that the city is reporting an average of 50 cases of dog bites per day within the GHMC limits. Victims visit the nearest area hospital or to the urban primary health care centre for getting treated but most of them face difficulties with no availability of the anti-rabies injections.

"There are many female dogs and, they have their small puppies in tow, Seeing them children try to touch or go near to them which is not liked by a female dog and she attacks children," said another resident Jatin Kumar.

Street dogs have been mostly observed in large numbers in areas like Abids road, Amberpet, Autonagar, Malakpet, Sri Nagar Colony, Santosh Nagar, Tolichowki, Shaikpet and Ameerpet.

However, the civic body claims to have solved the dog menace in the city but residents deny it. "We keep lodging complaints with the department but no dog-catching vehicles are being sent in areas where many dog biting cases have been reported," locals said.