Hyderabad: Stray dogs unleash reign of terror in city

BOW WOW…! STRAY DOGS RULE CITY STREETS!

That stray dog menace is increasing day by day in the city is an open secret. The mauling of a 4-year-old boy by a pack of stray dogs in Amberpet locality spooked the citizens. Incensed over the ghastly killing of the boy by dogs, people from different strata of society vehemently expressed their concern over the rising dog bite cases in the city in social media. So much so, several localities in the city are now under the threat of stray dogs. As an eerie silence envelopes the city during the nippy nights, thestrays wander along the roads after 10 pm and rule the roads till 7 am. Employees heading home after night shifts, fitness freaks, morning walkers and students rushing to tuition classes early in the morning are having a tough time because of the increasing dog menace.

Hyderabad: The stray dogs menace in the city have put human beings on their edge. The loss of life due to dog bites has been increasing day-by-day. The recent incident of dog attack on a toddler in Amberpet has sent shivers down the spine over residents.

Residents are scared to venture out of their homes as the first thing they see after getting out from their homes is a gang of stray dogs. They said that several accidents also occur when dogs chase bikes and cars. Dogs have been attacking children when they are playing on open grounds. Stray dog menace has become a terror in the city among residents.

Locals in city say that dog attacks have been increasing day-by-day and there are no efforts put to put a stop on the increase of dog menace. After the death of a boy on Sunday, people recalled the previous incidents like in 2021, when a 9-year-old in Bahadurpura and another boy in 2022 in Karwan was killed after a gang of dogs attacked them.

"Dog menace has become a serious matter of concern, as children are becoming the victims of dog bites. The authorities are least bothered to take steps to curb dog menace even after filing many complaints. Residents are afraid to send their children on errands as a dozen of digs keep wandering in every street," said SQ Masood, a social activist.

He added that the department is claiming that it is catching street dogs but are being released in the same areas after sterilisation. Denying the statement Masood claimed that the dogs are been caught but are been released without being sterilised. The department is not taking up sterilisation drives for street dogs and is simply releasing the into the streets posing a threat onto residents."Moreover, people from across the twin cities have keep complaining that the civic authorities does not seem to do anything even as the population of canines in streets was rising alarmingly over the last couple of years, while claiming lives of kids.

Mohammed Ahmed, another activist, said "The number of dog bite cases in the city has gone up in recent months as the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) failed to find a solution to check the rising stray dog population." He claims that the GHMC veterinary department has failed to catch dogs and its sterilisations drive is a farce.

AAP slams ghmc officials over stray dogs attack

The State unit of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today slammed the officials of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) over the incident of the death of a four-year-old boy in stray dogs' attack in Amberpet.

The AAP activists held a dharna in front of the GHMC head office at Liberty crossroads. Speaking on the occasion, the core committee member of the party, Dr Sudhakar, alleged that the negligence of the officials of the corporation led to the tragic incident. He demanded that the State government suspend the officials, responsible for the tragic incident.

Stating that there are over one lakh stray dogs in the corporation limits, he said there was an urgent need to control them. He demanded the officials of the GHMC to take immediate steps for prevention of such incidents in future.

He said the city was reporting several such stray dog attack incidents at regular intervals. He demanded that the State government pay a compensation of Rs.50 lakhs to the family members of the victim besides providing a job.

There are around 5.75 lakh stray dogs across the city, says GHMC 

Following the dog bite incident, City Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi held an emergency meeting on Tuesday with the officials and instructed them to hold an immediate inquiry into the dog attack incident and informed that GHMC is providing assistance to the boy's family.

She said "Following the Amberpet incident, 33 dogs were found in the area and sent to GHMC Animal Care CentreMahadevpur for sterilisation and anti-rabies vaccination.

Out of which 25 dogs have been sterilised," she added. She said that there are over 5.75 lakh dogs across the city, out of which 75 per cent have been sterilised. "Over 50,091 stray dogs were sterilisedin the GHMC limits in 2020-21, while 73,601 in 2021-22 and over 40,155 in 2022-23."

There are five Animal Care Centres, each one in zone including Fathaullaguda (L B Nagar), Chudi Bazar (Charminar), Patel Nagar (Khairtabad), KPHB Colony Kukatpally (Serilingampally), Mahadevapur (Secunderabad). Dogs are been sterilisedin these centres and left at the same place from where they were caught.

Dogs must not be fed on roads

There are several good Samaritans and some NGOs for treating street dogs as pets and are providing food to the dogs 2 times a day, but they are unaware of incidents occurring due to these dogs. In various areas across the city, people provide food for them, and dogs from other areas too come for food leading to an increase in the number of dogs in that particular area.

"The good Samaritans and NGOs must understand that after they provide food to them, the dogs keep wandering in the areas causing danger towards the residents. Dogs have been chasing vehicles and most of the times the bikers gets skid and met with an accident. They sometimes also enter homes and create mess inside the residence.

Am not denying people to feed the animals, but dogs can be fed in their private shelter homes but not on roads," said Hiten Shah, a resident of Kharkhana. Speaking on the issue, Santosh Nagar division Corporator Mohammed Muzaffar Hussain said several complaints were given by the residents of Santosh Nagar to the concerned department, the GHMC and also registered a complaint to police, regarding the increasing number of dogs in the area due to feeding to the dogs by people.

"Since some people started feeding dogs, nearby area dogs also gathering and are wandering in the colonies leading to an increasing in the number of dogs in Santosh Nagar."