Dog bites 50 in Salem, irate locals beat it to death

COIMBATORE: About 50 people were bitten by a dog and admitted to Mohan Kumaramangalam Government General Hospital in Salem on Friday. The dog was later beaten to death by members of the public near Pattaikovil in the city.

According to locals, the dog started biting passersby all of a sudden. Sources said it first attacked a 75-year-old man at Kitcaipalayam around 5am. “Then it started to move to other areas including Kalarampatti, Gandhi Mahan Street, Narayanan Nagar and Pachapatti, and bit whoever tried to shoo it away. Within a few hours, the number of people bitten by the dog crossed 50,” sources said.

An official at the hospital said the victims were given anti-rabies vaccine. “While most of them were treated as outpatients, a few of them who suffered serious injuries were admitted as in-patients,” the official said.

Meanwhile, agitated people beat the dog to death near Pattaikovil.

Poomozhi of Kichipalayam, said, “Everyday one or the other gets bitten by stray dogs in our area. The corporation has failed to carry out sterilization programmes. If the corporation does not take up such programmes, the situation will only turn worse.”