Canines injure infant in Hyderabad, high-level meeting convened to address problem

In another incident of street dogs targeting children in Hyderabad, a four-year-old boy playing outside his house in Chaitanyapuri in Hyderabad has been attacked by canines, leading to bleeding injuries.

The boy's mother told media that a pack of four to five dogs on Tuesday chased three children, and attacked her son resulting in scratches and bleeding injuries to him. He was taken to hospital for treatment, according to the woman.

She said her neighbours were feeding the stray dogs despite objections by some residents there. "Earlier also, stray dogs attacked the locals and complaints were made to municipal authorities then and they caught the dogs. But the neighbours, who were feeding them got these dogs released and they are attacking the children," the woman claimed.

The woman said after noticing the dogs attacking her son, she along with some other locals rescued her child.

She demanded the municipal authorities to immediately take away the stray dogs from the area as they are pouncing on children and others.

A police official, however, said they have not received any complaint over the incident.

This comes close on the heels of the gruesome instance of a pack of stray dogs attacking and killing a four-year-old boy in Amberpet in the city on February 19. The child was apparently carrying a packet containing some food item when the dogs pounced on him, a Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) official said. The incident was caught on CCTV camera and the footage went viral provoking public outcry.

In a high-level meeting, Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar on Wednesday directed the officials to pay special attention on controlling the stray dog menace in GHMC limits.

The senior bureaucrat chaired the meeting to chalk out an action plan on a war-footing to prevent the menace of stray dogs in the civic body's limits along with other municipalities in the state, an official release said.

He instructed GHMC officials to immediately carry out Animal Birth Control (ABC) sterilisation operations.

Municipal authorities have been directed to restrict the hotels, restaurants, function halls, meat markets within the GHMC limits from dumping waste on the streets. Due to the possible increase in the number of stray dogs in the city, it was ordered to take appropriate measures to prevent them immediately, the release said.

Kumar said the areas where most of the cases are registered should be identified and immediate action taken there.

The authorities have been directed to move veterinary teams in those areas and take appropriate measures to curb them.

The senior officer suggested that awareness programmes should be conducted for students in government and private schools in the city. School students are burdened by lack of awareness about pet dogs, he remarked.

The officials were advised to take control measures with the help of Slum Development Federations, Town Development Federations and Resident Welfare Associations within the limits of the city and neighbor municipalities as well as in other parts of the state with the help of self help groups (SHGs).

He advised officials to prepare a mobile app for registration of pets in the localities of city limits. He directed officials to develop another app soon to identify the number of pet dogs in the city and surrounding municipalities. Authorities would then issue an identity card to the concerned owners as per registration, the release stated.

GHMC officials briefed the meeting that there are currently 5.5 lakh stray dogs in the corporation area.

Meanwhile, the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) on Wednesday filed a complaint with the State Human Rights Commission seeking immediate directions to the government for taking action against dog menace.

Following the death of the four-year-old boy in Amberpet, the Congress leaders demanded stringent action against Telangana government, the state's Minister for Municipal Administration, GHMC Commissioner and GHMC Mayor alleging human rights violations and sought immediate directions to the state administration to take measures.

In a complaint filed with the Telangana State Human Rights Commission (TSHRC), the TPCC leaders said stray dogs were attacking people in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, especially children and elderly, and mentioned the incident of the four-year-old boy, who was mauled to death by street dogs.

The TPCC leaders accused the Telangana government representatives of responding in a most irresponsible manner by allegedly making statements disregarding the human rights of citizens of Hyderabad.

"Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao claimed that dog population must be artificially controlled, which ridicules his own incompetency and inefficiency. It is the minister himself who is responsible for the control of dog menace in the state," they said.

The Congress leaders further said GHMC Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi blamed the dogs that were hungry for attacking the citizens. It is the job of the mayor to safeguard the lives of citizens and to control dog menace, they said and also urged financial assistance to be provided to the family of the deceased boy.

TPCC President and party MP A Revanth Reddy also attacked the BRS government over the incident and alleged that Rama Rao miserably failed in discharging his duties as a Municipal Administration minister.