Terror of stray dogs continued to haunt Sitapur

The terror of stray dogs continued to haunt Sitapur when two more children being mauled by the canines on Friday, raising a question mark on the efforts of district administration to catch these dogs and ensure safety to the children.

As per reports, a pack of dogs attacked four children in Khairabad and adjoining areas on Friday morning leading to the death of two kids. With this, the total number of children killed by stray dogs in the last six months has gone up to 15. 

On May 1, three children were killed by stray dogs leading to protests after which district administration deployed dog catchers across Sitapur and adjoining areas.

As per reports, Gita (7) of Khairabad accompanied by two children went to a orchard to collect mangoes on Friday morning when a pack of dogs attacked them. Two children managed to flee, but the dogs mauled Gita.  Her shrieks alerted villagers but by the time they reached there Gita had died.

In another incident in Budanpur village, a pack of stray dogs attacked Virendra (10), who had gone out to ease himself. He raised an alarm but before locals could rush there, he was killed. Agitated villagers chased the dogs and killed one of them.

On being informed, CO, City, Yogendra Singh and Tehsildar, Dinesh Singh reached the village and were gheraoed by angry villagers who demanded security from dogs.

The people of Sitapur are stunned as this is the second attack of stray dogs on children in the last three days. District Magistrate Sheetal Verma had set up four teams to catch these dogs. Besides, a special team has been requistioned from Mathura. 

On Friday, the team is reported to have caught 24 dogs but officials felt that the menace was far from over.

City Magistrate Harshdeo Pandey said that villagers have been asked not to allow children to go out alone. 

“We also suggest that children should not be allowed to go out to play for few days till these dogs were caught,” he said.

SP Anand Kulkarni said that the attacks were reported when children went out to relieve thenselves or collect mangoes. “Small precautions can save precious lives of the children,” he said.

The bigger question is that why all of a sudden stray dogs have started attacking children. Villagers say that an illegal slaughter house was in operation near Khairabad graveyard and these dogs used to get food from there. Once the abattoirs were closed, the dogs stopped getting their food and hence started attacking children.