The problem of strays can especially affect the elderly, say experts.
EVEN THOUGH the authorities claim to have continued dog sterilisation, the result cannot be seen on the ground, claim residents and victims. In the latest case of dog bite, the wife of a retired Lieutenant Colonel, who decided to come to Panchkula and settle in Sector 10, was attacked by a pack of dogs early in the morning.
“My BP shot up to 200 when the pack of dogs attacked me. Anything could have happened. If not because of dogs then surely because of the shock,” said Anu Vikram, the recent victim. Anu was on a morning walk at 8 am on Saturday. As she entered her Sector’s park, she was attacked. “First one dog came and started growling. Then seven more came running towards me. They started scratching and biting me. My whole kurta was torn. It was the locals who came running and saved me,” she said.
According to several residents of the sector, the problem was not so severe almost a year ago. “There is this one woman that started feeding dogs of the locality. First came one dog and then several others. She does not feed them outside her house but uses the park or two abandoned houses right next to park of the sector where the owners live abroad to feed the dogs. That is the reason they attack people who come to the park,” said Sector 10 president of RWA, B M Kaushik.
The problem of strays can especially affect the elderly, say experts. According to HoD of Cardiac Department of a private hospital, Dr R K Jaswal, “Shocks like these do not directly lead to heart attacks but may act as a trigger. Any excitement can lead to a excess of certain hormones in the body which may further increase blood pressure and heart rate. This may lead people to get a shock, lose consciousness and can even trigger a heart attack. Though this may happen in any age group, elderly may be affected much more as they already have underlining diseases and can be bigger sufferers.”
At least three more people have been attacked by the dogs of the sector within this week. While a 12-year-old schoolgoing child was attacked early last week, another elderly, who had gone to a park for an evening walk, was attacked on Wednesday. People of the area complain of being stuck at homes at all times in the fear of moving out and getting bit/attacked by the dogs.
“The dogs have suddenly become aggressive. They are attacking anybody they see, even if we are minding our own business. We don’t even think of getting out of our house. The corporation is doing nothing to transport them out of here as they claim it will not be in accordance with the rules. But we too are the citizens of the country and have a fundamental right of moving to any place we want. These packs of dogs attacking us are in breach of it. But authorities do not see it,” said a 34-year-old, Khushi, whose daughter was recently attacked by the dogs.
The stray dog menace has been there for years now. The cases of dog bites have increased in the past year. While in 2018, approximately 2,000 cases of dog bites were registered at the Civil Hospital, the number rose to 4,000 (approx) in 2019. According to doctors at Civil Hospital, Sector 6, at least 20 cases of dog-bites are reported on a daily basis at the hospital, with most of the victims being children and elderly residents.
The MC Panchkula has an NGO ‘Bezubaan’ employed with them that takes almost Rs 1,100 per dog and claims to sterilise as many as 20 dogs per day. While CMO Jasjeet Kaur agreed that there was a rise in dog bite cases, she said, “I can get you them by Monday as the person who holds them would not be available right now. The exact statistics can be collected from me tomorrow.”