Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former health minister Harish Rao on Saturday, August 10, slammed the Telangana government alleging over 335 incidents of stray dog attacks in the last eight months across the state.
“Dog attacks on children are becoming a routine. As many as 335 dog bite incidents in the last eight months. It is appalling that the Telangana government considers death due to dog bites as a common occurrence. This would not have happened if proper action was taken,” Rao said in a statement.
The Siddipet MLA was referring to a series of stray dog attacks that took place recently in Telangana including Hyderabad.
“It is inhumane that the Telangana government is not moved even after seeing heartbreaking incidents of dogs eating a newborn in Warangal MGM hospital yesterday or attacking a disabled child in Narsingh municipality in the suburbs of Hyderabad, or a four-year-old girl dying in Ibrahimpatnam of Rangareddy district while receiving treatment for injuries caused by a dog attack,” Rao said.
Rao pointed out administrative failure as the cause of the increased number of dog attacks. “The lack of funds for dog birth control operations has aggravated the issue. The government should take immediate steps to prevent such incidents in the future.”
In its statement to the Telangana High Court, the government said that there are 3, 79,156 stray dogs in the state. However, the number could be doubled, the MLA said.
Recent dog attacks in Telangana
On August 9 a seven-year-old differently-abled boy was attacked by a stray dog at his residence in Kokapet while he was asleep. The boy was alone at the time of the attack.
On the same day, a newborn was eaten by dogs inside the MGM hospital in Warangal. The baby whose gender couldn’t be identified due to the badly damaged condition of the body, was estimated to be two days old.
On August 8, four children were attacked by dogs in Yellareddypet Mandal of Rajanna Sircilla district The victims were identified as Sahjasra, Brithisha, Varun and Varshit Reddy. The children were doing their homework when the attack took place.
On August 7, an 18-month-old toddler sustained severe injuries after a stray dog attacked him while he was playing on a subway in Karimnagar near Satavahana University.
Harish Rao demanded compensation for the victims of dog attacks. He called for anti-rabies drugs to be available in all primary health centers and hospitals. “The government should make a comprehensive plan to control the dog population. Regular monitoring should ensure the numbers do not increase,” Rao said.
