Over 1k stray animals killed in road accidents in 4 mths

Nagpur: Accidents caused by stray cattle have led to public outrage in the recent past, but what has gone unnoticed is that more than 1,011 stray animals have been injured in road accidents in the city in last four months. A majority of them succumbed to their injuries.
From 2011-12 till July 2019, as many as 11,915 stray animals including dogs, cat, cattle and goat were injured in road accidents in different parts of the city, data prepared by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) veterinary department has revealed.
According to the department, 767 dogs, 160 cats and 61 cattle were brought to its hospital-cum-animal-shelter from April 2019 to July 2019. Most of these animals were accident victims. At least 30% of the animals died either immediately or after a few days.
As per the data, the number of accidents involving stray animals has increased by almost 23% in the last six years. In 2014-15, the department recorded 652 accidents involving 611 stray dogs, 32 cats and three cattle. In 2018-19, the number increased to 2,766 — 2,203 stray dogs, 367 cats and 221 cattle.
From April to June this year, eight stray animals were injured in road accidents every day. The actual number could be much more because many people don’t bother to inform the NMC whenever they accidentally hit an animal. “Instead they let it die and speed away. Most people don’t consider it their personal responsibility to help an injured animal,” said an official from the veterinary department.
According to sources, most accidents involving stray animals occur either due to poor lighting on roads or due to over-speeding. Recently, green activist Jaydeep Das witnessed an injured cow in the middle of Amravati Road. “The oncoming vehicles kept hitting the animal,” he said.
Many non-government organizations (NGOs) working for animals too receive around 3-4 cases every day. “On an average, we rescue around two injured dogs every day,” said a member of People For Animals.
“Many dogs get deeply disturbed and traumatized after an accident. They eventually lose their will to survive,” said Niha Khan, a member of Nagpur United for Animals (NUA).
“With a view to save stray animals, especially dogs and cats, animal lovers from different parts of the city and NGOs have come forward to form NUA,” she said.
NUA will be organizing a signature campaign on September 8 at Futala lake, 4.30pm, to show disapproval for this ignorance and injustice towards stray animals.
According to Niha Khan, the NMC has failed to conduct Animal Birth Control Programme (ABC) consistently for the past many years, which has led to the rise in stray animal population, which in turn results into conflicts.
To deal with the growing complaints, NMC is illegally catching dogs and cats and relocating them on the city’s outskirts, thus causing their death, said animal activists.
Year --- Total animals
2011-12 --- 526
2012-13 --- 1,217
2013-14 --- 1,126
2014-15 --- 652
2015-16 --- 900
2016-17 --- 1,923
2017-18 --- 1,754
2018-19 --- 2,806
2019-20 --- 1,011
Animals --- Injured in numbers
Dog --- 9,971
Cat --- 1,009
Cattle --- 723
Goat --- 34
Donkey --- 27
Monkey --- 37
Bird, swine, mongoose --- 63
Total --- 11,915