Hyderabad: Complaints over stray dog attack pile up

Hyderabad: In the wake of the Amberpet tragedy, where a 4-year-old boy was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs, leading to panic among city residents. The GHMC (Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation) received nearly 15,000 complaints in 36 hours on stray dog helpline numbers.

According to GHMC, the number of complaints has increased as it received over 400 complaints in an hour. "The GHMC received more than 15,000 complaints related to stray dogs and is still continuing," said an official at GHMC. "With the large number of complaints pouring in GHMC, we are trying to address their grievances. We are identifying the areas where most of the cases are registered, and immediate action is being taken there," added the officer.

Adding further, "To curb the dog menace, the state government made a necessary arrangement to enhance the current capacity of conducting Animal Birth Control (ABC) measures to achieve 100 percent sterilization of street dogs."

Moreover, the civic body website is flooded with complaints from netizens. Akhil Renu complained, "I am a citizen of Sai Nagar Colony in Alwal. With every passing day, the problem of stray dogs is increasing. They are chasing many people who pass by them. It has become a very big problem as they are biting the people around, I kindly request you to take necessary action towards it by sending a dog catcher. As soon as possible," he complained. Another complainant said "We are facing the stray dogs problem in our area Puppalaguda in Manikonda. There are nearly 8 dogs in our lane only, they create lots of disturbance in both day and nighttime. Whole night they will be barking, and people are unable to sleep peacefully. Children cannot play due to dogs, and sometimes they chase them." The state government issued a directive to the officials to curb the dog menace. It also directed them to pay special attention and an action plan must be prepared over the same in GHMC and other municipalities, on a war footing, to curb the proliferation of street dongs and prevent aggression by them.

Moreover, an awareness programmes for students in government and private schools in the city is necessary on an urgent basis. School students are burdened by lack of awareness about pet dogs. The civic authorities were also ordered to prepare pamphlets and hoardings in dealing with strays to be displayed in all schools in the city.