GURUGRAM: The city has reported 18,803 cases of dog bites since 2015, an RTI reply has revealed. The number of such cases has gone up by 1,372 this year.
According to the RTI response to
Aseem Takyar, 7,113
dog bite cases were reported this year and 5,741 in 2016. In 2015, the total number of dog bites was reported at 5,949.
The figures roughly translate into 17-20 cases every day. Officials at the civil hospital said the number of dog bite cases had been increasing by the day and the healthcare facility had been witnessing long queues of people waiting to be administered anti-rabies vaccines.
Asked for a response on Tuesday, chief medical officer
RK Rajoura said: "I won't be able to comment on the figures. I can only access the files once I am in office on Wednesday morning."
People from across the city had been complaining of increasing number of dog bites. Recently, an 11-year-old boy was bitten by a neighbour's pet bullmastiff.
Experts attributed the dog bites to a rising number of strays and an apparent slack in carrying out sterilisation drives, which, they said, helped keep breeding in check.
Officials at the Gurgaon municipal corporation denied the allegation that sterilisatiion drives were not being carried out properly and said that the cases of dog bites were not linked to just strays.
"We have hired an agency called Friendicoes that has been undertaking sterilisation drives across the city. However, in most cases, people want the dogs to be relocated instead of being sterilised, which is not permissible under law," said Y.S. Gupta, additional municipal commissioner, Gurgaon.
Gupta added that while sterilisation was necessary to keep the breeding of dogs in check, it was not the only solution. The civic body has been working with several organisations to make people aware about dog behaviour. Humans be humane, a citizen-based organisation, has been working with the civic body to hold sessions on how to reduce "man-dog conflict".
"According to our understanding, dog bites are not just about strays. In many cases, it is pet dogs who bite people. But people also have misconceptions, such as if a dog is looking at you, you do not stare back at him," said
Umesh Gupta, who works with the organisation. He added that while the MCG was undertaking sterilisation operations, it wasn't being done in full swing.
