Vexed with stray dogs, people to approach court

The incidents of some dogs killing a girl and a calf in Guntur district last week triggered ang-er among people and they are demanding the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation and the an-imal protection organisations to ascertain the intensity of the problem.

The VMC has performed sterilisation on 7,000 dogs out of 10,000 in 2009. Now as per the sources, there more tha-n 13,000 dogs in the city. The corporation wants to perform surgeries on all stray dogs in the city to check the growth of their population. The VMC releases dogs in the same locality from where they were caught for performing sterilisation, as per the guidelines.

A resident of Narasimha Apartments, K. Ravi, said, “There is a serious threat from street dogs. They follow and attack people. We are all worried they might bite the children who easily get scared. The municipal corporation has not taken any action even after several complaints.”

N. Srinivas Rao, a resident of Kanchukotavari street opposite Maris Stella College said, “We have complained to the VMC more than 10 times. They say is that they cannot relocate them or kill them, as per the Supreme Court orders. They do not respond to our complaints.” Dr. Z. Srinivasa Rao, a veterinary assistant surgeon of the VMC said, “We are sterilising and immunising the dogs regularly. After a week or 10 days of the sterilsation, we should leave them at the same place where we caught them from. Though their population remai-ns constant, they are sterilised and vaccinated now. We cannot take decision of relocating the dogs, as it is against the guidelines. We advi-se the people not to dispose waste and food on roads or vacant lands in the locality. If there is no food available to the dogs, they automatically search for another area and leave the colony.”

The animal lovers’ associations are complaining to the legal authorities to take action against the veterinary assistant surgeons, if they were found killings dogs in any area. G. Sudhir Kumar, of an animal lovers’ assoc-iation, said, “Every animal has a right to live as we human beings. We need to protect them and provide a free environment. It is the respo-nsibility of the corporation to sterilise them.”

If they were vaccinated, there would be no problem to the people, even if the dog bites. People must understand that the dogs are coward. They attack only when they see threat from persons in the vicinity. People should be careful while dealing with the ferocious animals." The people are demanding that the government should come forward to protect the public from the stray dogs.