A four-year-old kid was viciously mauled by a pack of stray dogs in Hyderabad, which prompted the state government to convene a meeting of the city’s civic authorities on Thursday to assess the situation.
State minister for animal husbandry Talasani Srinivas Yadav stated that he had convened a meeting of senior officials in his chambers in the secretariat in response to complaints from residents in different parts of the city about the stray dog problem. The purpose of the meeting was to determine ways to control the stray dog problem.
“It is quite tragic what happened to the four-year-old youngster in Amberpet. “We will develop a plan to prevent a repetition of such situations,” stated Yadav.
On Tuesday evening, it was reported that five people, including a youngster, were bitten by stray dogs at Erraboda Colony, Hyderguda, within the Rajendranagar municipal limits. Shyam, a nearby resident, stated, “The dogs attempted to drag a five-year-old youngster by biting his hand, but he was rescued in time by the villagers.”
Even other animals were not spared by the wandering dogs. A deer fawn was murdered by stray dogs on Wednesday morning at Jataayuvu Deer Park near Peerjadiguda, on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
“The newborn deer, which had been exploring the park, escaped through the gate and was attacked by stray dogs. The injured deer died instantaneously, according to a guard at a deer park.
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation mayor G Vijayalakshmi stated that there are 575,000 sterilised street dogs in the city.
In the last three years, the authorities have sterilised 163,000 stray dogs, including 50,091 in 2020-21, 73,601 in 2021-22, and 40,155 in 2022-23, according to data available from the GHMC.
Yet, according to figures revealed in 2020, 199,000 dogs were spayed or neutered. It suggests that only 362,000 dogs have been sterilised to date, and there are still 200,000 unsterilised street canines in the city, leading in an increase of stray dogs over time.
Under the condition of anonymity, a top GHMC official stated that the number of stray dogs had increased despite massive expenditures on sterilising. “We pay an average of 15,000 yen to capture and sterilise each dog. But, the attempts are insufficient due to a lack of personnel and oversight,” he stated.
According to him, a lack of sufficient food and water, especially during the heat, causes dogs to become agitated and attack people. “We have deployed cars to capture stray dogs in all 30 GHMC circles, and we are making every effort to do so,” the spokesman explained.
The Mayor of Hyderabad also revealed that the GHMC is considering launching an exclusive dog adoption programme in each of its 30 circles. With the support of NGOs and concerned residents who would supply food and water for the dogs, the organisation hopes to adopt approximately 600 street dogs per month.
Vijayalakshmi stated, “At the same time, we will deploy municipal workers in locations where dog bite reports are regularly recorded.”
She noted that the GHMC also established a hotline at 040-2111-1111 to handle concerns about dog aggression.
