Stray dog attack: Steps to control stray dog menace in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: In light of the incident in Amberpet, Hyderabad where stray dogs mauled a four-year-old boy to death, a review meeting was held in the city to examine effective control strategies for stray dogs. Various directives and orders were given to ensure rigorous compliance.

The meeting with all responsible personnel was conducted on 22 February at the chambers of the special chief secretary to the state government, MAUD deputy, Telangana.

Based on the review meeting, all municipal commissioners are directed to undertake the following measures and take any other necessary procedures required by law to control the street dog population and prevent street dog attacks:

1. Make the necessary arrangements to improve the current capability of implementing ABC, such as rationalizing the number of dog-catching teams and vehicles in order to respond to dog complaints effectively and achieve 100% sterilization of street dogs.

2. Rapid assessment and identification of high-density stray dog areas and areas with the highest number of dog bite incidents by involving resident welfare associations, slum-level federations, and town-level federations in order to take immediate necessary action in preventing further dog attacks in those areas.

3. Promote widespread awareness of the hotline number (040-21111111) and mobile applications such as My GHMC app and citizen buddy for reporting aggressive or unsterilized dogs (dogs without an ear notch) in order to take immediate action and maintain community safety.

4. The inclination of various trades, such as retail shops, function rooms, hostels, and so on, to throw out non-vegetarian food, particularly fresh food, must be discouraged and curtailed. The officials were directed to take strict action against such hotels, restaurants, function halls, non-vegetarian shops, hospitals, hostels, and other establishments that dispose of their garbage on streets/public places, and to ensure that proper garbage disposal practices are implemented within these establishments to prevent street dog gathering.

5. Utilize the services of self-help groups, sanitation staff, and MEPMA staff to raise awareness about street dog behaviour and educate the community on how to deal with street dogs by distributing pamphlets in both government and private schools detailing the “dos” and “don’t’s” of street dog behaviour.

6. A programme should be implemented in all schools to teach youngsters about appropriate behaviour patterns while interacting with stray dogs. This should be completed at all schools during the next month. The GHMC will create a leaflet for the purpose, and the awareness campaign will be carried out in collaboration with the school education department.

7. GHMC shall devise a plan to contact each RWA and resident association, SLF (slum level federation), and TLF (Town level Federation) to raise awareness about street dog feeding and reporting of rogue street dogs. This should be finished within the next month.

8. In terms of teaching local residents/RWAs and resident associations, all sanitation employees, including outsourcing staff, should be taught to deal with street dogs and follow the required protocol.

9. To restrict their population and reduce the risk of dog bites, intensive efforts will be conducted to capture and sterilize 100% of street dogs in the Musi River, surrounding MoD areas, and forest regions.

10. Raise awareness about responsible pet ownership and encourage the adoption of street dogs.

11. Make the necessary arrangements to acquire real-time dog bite reports from IPM, Narayanguda, and Fever Hospital, Nallakunta, in order to take urgent necessary action on top priority, and to launch a special drive for trapping and sterilising street dogs in order to prevent further attacks.

12. Install billboards/hoardings in appropriate areas that emphasise acceptable behaviour towards and around street dogs. Additionally, underline the significance of developing an anti-rabies animal birth control programme.

13. To reduce street dog hostility during the summer, place an adequate number of water bowls in appropriate locations, ideally away from public circulation areas.

A four-year-old boy, Pradeep, was attacked by four dogs on 19 February while walking on the road near his father's workplace in Amberpet. The animals pounced on him, pinned him down, and bit him in his stomach, face, and other parts of his body. The incident sparked outrage in the city, with widespread condemnations and criticism against the government.