Bengaluru’s stray-dog menace claimed one more life, the first in 2016, with a toddler having her face torn by a dog. In 2015, the city had faced over 8,500 cases, as many as 23 cases every day..
On Monday, a three-and-half-year-old was mauled by a stray dog while she was playing at her grandmother’s house at Medahalli in KR Puram area in Bengaluru, reported The Hindu.
Poorvi’s mother, Hema who regularly left her at her relative’s house a few streets away, received the news that a rabid dog that had attacked Poorvi had mauled her face.
Following the attack, the relatives rushed Poorvi to Sathya Sai Orthopedics and Super Specialty Hospital at KR Puram.
The New Indian Express quoted Hema saying “Poorvi was bitten by a rabid dog at around 12.30 pm and she has been kept in the ICU. We are very much worried as her face is torn.”
Dr Maheshwar Gowda, Joint Director, Animal Husbandry Department, BBMP, said that they are taking action and asked the local animal husbandry inspector to inspect the dogs in the area and isolate ones which are terminally ill, reported The New Indian Express.
Gowda said, “Stray dogs in the area will be screened. If they find any dog in rabid condition or terminally ill, it will be kept in isolation. Also, at the same time, animal birth control measures will be intensified here.”
Saravodaya Sevabhavi Samstha, the organisation in-charge of manning strays in Mahadevpura zonew which heard about the incident.
Officer in-charge said, “We heard about the incident and we will to track down the dog. We have been unable to contact the victim’s parents to find out how exactly the attack happened. We just know it is in Medahalli area. We will be taking two vehicles with us, one to catch the stray and the other to transport it.”
Three months ago a cattle-farm worker near Gundur area in the outskirts of Bengaluru was mauled by 10 stray dogs that were living near an abandoned garbage dump.
According to statistics given by The Hindu, there were over 14,924 cases in 2010-11. While it reduced in 2011-2012 with 10,369 cases, it had shot up again in 2012. The number cases had come down to 6,831 in 2013-2014 when the lowest number of cases recorded in the last five years.
This is an aggregated report from The Hindu and The New Indian Express