A five-year-old child was severely injured after being attacked by a pack of dogs in Chakan in Pune district in Maharashtra.
In a shocking video (the incident was captured by a nearby CCTV camera), the young boy can be seen standing by the side of a partly-flooded dirt road and waving away at a black dog. The boy does not move toward the dog and does not appear to make any threatening gesture.
Seconds later a second dog sprints forward from the boy’s right hand side. The dog attacks the boy before he can run away. The CCTV feed captures the young boy’s scream as the dog attacks.
As soon as the boy is thrown to the ground at least half-a-dozen other dogs converge, barking and surrounding the boy, who continues screaming. The terrified boy is soon pinned on the ground and the dogs circle around, even seeming to jump on the young child.
His screams and the dogs’ barking bring a woman racing out of a nearby house. She throws a few stones at the dogs but they continue their attack, seeming to drag the child into nearby bushes. Then two men appear on the scene and rush at the dogs, who then race away.
READ | 76-Year-Old Woman Dies After Stray Dog Attack In Bengaluru: Cops
This disturbing incident has reignited the debate over attacks by stray dogs in Pune, and other parts of the country. Last month there was a horrific incident from Telangana’s Rajanna Sircilla district in which an elderly woman was killed by pack of stray dogs which then ate parts of her body.
READ | Stray Dogs Kill, Eat Body Parts Of 82-Year-Old Woman In Telangana
These incidents, in addition to several in Uttar Pradesh and Kerala over the past few months have led to renewed calls for stricter measures to control stray dog populations.
Speaking to NDTV, Dr Abi T Vanak, Director of the Centre for Policy Design at the Ashoka Trust For Research In Ecology And The Environment, said the problem of stray dogs “has become completely out of control (and) a human rights issue”.
“I certainly blame unscientific animal birth control policies… because first, they created a category called ‘street dog’ and said they can only live on the street,” he explained.
“Now, according to the rules, even if the Pune officials capture these dogs, they only have to observe them for 10 days and they will be released. But dogs kept in cages are not going to attack… they are going to be scared. So, most likely, the officials won’t find anything wrong and the dogs will be released and then will probably be more aggressive…” he explained.
“So the problem really is, we have created this situation where poor people continue to suffer the brunt of attacks like this because of poor policy-making,” Dr Vanak told NDTV, suggesting society needs to “rethink the relationship with dogs, as they are domestic and not feral”.
“They can go feral sometimes but are maintained by humans… so we have to ensure their well-being. And that cannot be done on the streets, so we have to change this policy. People should be encouraged to adopt dogs and set up shelters. If you want to feed them, then feed them at shelters. Currently the rules even require stray dogs to be fed on the streets.”
Dr Vanak also pointed out India has a population of around 80 million dogs and, therefore, that the current ABC, or animal birth control, laws are “impractical”.
“To effectively control population of free-ranging dogs (under current rules, which focus only on urban areas), you have to sterilise something like 90 per cent of their numbers. And this has to be done indefinitely because, if you stop, non-sterlised dogs from other areas will come in.”
Pune district authorities, meanwhile, have urged parents to remain vigilant and supervise children while outdoors, particularly in remote areas.
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