Bengaluru: Every night, as Kiran Kumar leaves his office in B.Channasandra near Kasturi Nagar, he has only one thing on his mind to reach home without being attacked. And it’s not the fear of robbers or thugs that worries him, but the fear of being mauled by stray dogs.
He says, “I work on the night shift and by the time I leave office, the roads are deserted and not many people are around. The dogs chase motorists and try to attack bikers. I have heard my colleagues complain about dog attacks and it worries me when I have to leave office late in the night.”
According to Kiran, the number of dogs have significantly increased in the past few months and the amount seems to be going up with every passing day.
Kiran adds, “It looks like the locals in Kasturi Nagar have not bothered to bring the matter to the notice of BBMP officials and there seems to be no action taken whatsoever. We don’t know if the dogs are vaccinated or not. What if rabid dogs pounce? Who would help me at such odd hours?”
Undoubtedly, the stray dog menace has risen alarmingly in various parts of the city, especially where the BBMP has failed to clear garbage regularly. The areas on the city’s periphery are most vulnerable to stray canines as they migrate to these places from neighbouring villages. Although there are estimates that the city has a dog population of about 4 lakh, the BBMP has not conducted a dog census in the last 13 years. The last dog census was conducted in Bengaluru in 2002 and the population of dogs was 1.5 lakh.
As per BBMP records, in May, Animal Birth Control (ABC) operations were conducted on 3,200 dogs along with vaccinating them. Also, about 2,400 dogs were sterilized in that month alone. So far, about 6,500 dogs have been operated upon and sterilized across the city, say officials.
