Stray dog attack in capital which left man with injured eye reignites questions on effectiveness of ABC programme

A fearsome stray dog attack which left a 69-year old man in the capital with serious injuries to his face and eyes has reignited fears of stray dog attacks among the people in various parts of the city with considerable dog population on the streets. The Corporation also found itself in a spot with the Opposition raising questions about the effectiveness of the ongoing Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme.

On Friday, Chandran, a resident of Vettamukku was heading to a shop near his home in Kattachal Road, when a stray dog charged at him. When he fell down on the road, the dog repeatedly bit his face, injuring his right eyelid and lips. A group of local residents, who reached the spot, drove away the stray dog, saving him from further injuries.

Mr.Chandran was admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital here and a surgery was conducted. The local residents’ association has demanded the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation to take strong action to control stray dogs as the area has witnessed attacks by dogs in recent months. Last week, a 26-year old research scholar had died after he fell from the two-wheeler he was riding, when a stray dog jumped in front of it near Thumba.

On Monday, the Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) staged a protest in front of the Corporation main office in Palayam, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Corporation of having failed to take any concrete steps to address the stray dog menace. When the BJP took charge earlier this year, Mayor V.V.Rajesh had announced a pilot project to address the stray dog issue in the city. As a first step, 50 dogs were caught from various areas within the Corporation’s borders and sterilised.

However, a plan to shift stray dogs from the city to a dog shelter at a panchayat in the capital’s outskirts hit a roadblock due to protests of the local population, who opposed the move to bring a large number of stray dogs into a thickly populated area. The number of sterilisations also has not seen much of an increase in recent months.