Infuriated with increasing dog menace in KDP Grand Savanna, a high-rise in Rajnagar Extension, the residents on Thursday took the matter in their own hands by catching over eight stray dogs inside the society premises using a net and released them far from the society. This strong reaction was followed by four dog bite incidents in the last two days.
On Wednesday evening, a five-year-old Shauryaman was brutally attacked by a stray dog inside society’s campus. The incident caused injuries to his nose, back, hips, and a thigh. His parents rushed him to the Max Hospital. Later, he was referred to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi.
“The doctors have advised us to keep an eye on the behaviour of the stray dog which had bit the boy as it is important for the future course of remedial action,” the boy’s mother said.
In another incident on Wednesday, six-year-old Aryash was bitten by a stray dog while he was playing in the society’s garden area. “I was casually walking when the dog suddenly attacked me from behind. He pinned me down and bitten my left thigh,” Aryash explained his ordeal to City Spidey.
One security guard and a housekeeping lady were also attacked and bitten by the dogs on Thursday.
A resident on the condition of anonymity also told City Spidey that in last thirty days, the society witnessed over a dozen dog bite cases.
However, none of them was reported to the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) or People For Animals (PFA). PFA is an agency which has been appointed by GMC to look after sterilization and vaccination of stray dogs.
The residents also blamed the lackadaisical attitude of security guards and facility management.
JN Tyagi, a resident of the society and member of Federation of AOA, Raj Nagar Extension, said that AOA and facility management are not taking any step to sterilize and vaccinate the dogs inside society premises. “Also, the poor security allows the other dogs to come freely and stay in the society,” he added.
Tyagi also termed the action of trapping dogs via the net as a drama. “We have seen such things earlier as well. Such steps are taken only to calm down the agitated residents. Neither they (guards and maintenance management) have the courage nor have the expertise to catch the dogs,” he added further.
Sumedha Iyer, president of PFA, said, “If such step has been taken, then it’s a direct violation of the notification of Animal Welfare Board of India and contempt of Supreme Court’s verdict. Their action is illegal and invites an FIR if found true.”
She also said that the residents should have immediately contacted PFA with the medical certificate authenticating dog bite to the victim and an application letter instead of resorting to such techniques. “We would have acted immediately,” she added.
However, the residents have jointly written an application to GMC and Councillor Sanjeev Tyagi requesting them to step in and resolve the issue at the earliest.
