Stray dog problem assumes alarming proportion in Punjab

Punjab government has been barking up the wrong tree. Its efforts to tackle the stray canine problem in the State have virtually gone to the dogs, with two minors being mauled to death during the past week.

The back-to-back incidents, within five days, have pressed the panic button among the people, and also among the authorities concerned to initiate immediate steps to check the growing menace.

As of now, the State Government is sans any effective plan to manage the situation with about 4.7 lakh of stray dog population, as per the Centre’s 19th Livestock Census.

Besides, the government is also not ready with its policy to grant compensation to the dog bite victims, despite the strict directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in November last, especially when on an average over lakh cases of dog bites were reported in past two years each.

A senior Government official told The Pioneer that the government is in the process of framing the ‘Punjab Municipal Corporation and Municipal (Registration Control of Stray Animals and Compensation to the Victim of Animal Attack) bye-laws’ aimed at controlling the cases of biting by the stray dogs or animals and awarding compensation to the family of deceased, if any.

The official, who did not wish to be named, also maintained that the Department of Local Government “is working on various aspects including birth control, vaccination, creating a data back, or building dog pounds…We are seeing what would be the best way to tackle it. However, at the same time, the sterilization process is going on in many cities”.

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had also raised the issue of stray dogs with the Centre, to which the Centre had suggested setting up of Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) units across the state, besides dog sterilization under the Animal Birth Control Programme to control the spread of stray dogs.

The official maintained that the proposal to install microchips, carrying unique identification number, in the dogs was also discussed for which talks were held with many companies involved in this.

At the same time, the official admitted that the Government’s efforts to deal with the situation often hit a roadblock with the animal activists or such NGOs standing up against the move.

Adding further, the official said that the problem is not only limited to the dogs, the stray cattle also pose a major danger to the lives of people on road. “Stray cattle are the reason of a large number of road accident cases which even lead to death and serious injuries,” the official added.

DOG MENACE IN NUMBERS

As per the figures available with the state health department, about one lakh cases of dog bites each were reported in 2016 and 2017 — which comes down to about 274 cases every day. The figure is also alarming in the wake of 2015 figure which was only 4,719 dog-bite cases.

The maximum number of cases were reported in Ludhiana district with 13,000 in 2017, followed by Patiala with 9,700, and Jalandhar with 8,100.

In 2016, the maximum cases were reported from Amritsar with 12,000 cases, followed by Mohali with 11,000 and Ludhiana with 10,771.

The figures also maintained that no case rabies or death due to dog bite has been reported since 2015.

“These could be half-baked figures as many cases go unnoticed. Some people report and some did not, especially those in rural areas. The situation is much more alarming than this,” a health senior department official said.

BACK-TO-BACK INCIDENTS SHOCKED PEOPLE

The one after another incident of stray dogs mauling two minors to death in the state has stunned the people at large. They now fear sending their kids outdoors, even stepping out of the houses unarmed.

“We now started carrying a stick or a stone in hand while stepping out of the house. There are so many stray dogs and after what happened in Sangrur and Nabha, you just cannot take a risk, especially with your children,” Kiran, a Kharar-resident said.

A five-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy were mauled to death by the stray dogs in Sangrur and Nabha respectively within five days’ time.

The five-year-old girl was attacked by a pack of stray dogs on Wednesday at the time she was playing near her house on the outskirts of Bhindran village. The dogs caught her by the neck and dragged her for about 300 metres before mauling her.

On Saturday, a seven-year-old boy was attacked by stray dogs at Mehas village in Nabha who had gone to pluck mangoes from a tree near the brick kiln. The boy tried to run away but was dragged by the dogs, at least seven, into the fields and mauled.