In the last one week, a pack of stray dogs has attacked two women near their houses in Sector 28, leaving them severely injured. One of the victims also fractured her right arm.
The incidents took place when the victims were going to a public park for morning walk around 6 am. The victims were identified as Anita Aggarwal, 64, and Sunita Aggarwal, 61, residents of Sector 28.
What shocked the two victims was the attitude of the dog squad of Municipal Corporation, which asked the victims to identify the most aggressive in the pack of dogs, which attacked them.
“It was around 6 am last Monday. My wife Anita Aggarwal was about to enter a local public park when a furious pack of dogs attacked her. My wife fell on the road, throwing her entire weight on her right hand. Apart from one or two dogbite marks, she received multiple fractures in her right wrist. We rushed her to a private orthopaedics clinic in Sector 15, Panchkula. Her wrist and arm were plastered. Two days later, our neighbour Sunita Aggarwal became a victim of the same pack of dogs. My wife was bitten just outside the park but our neighbour was attacked around 25 metres before the park. She received multiple bite injuries on her foot and arm. These were horrible incidents. We called an immediate meeting of our Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA), Sector 28. The matter was taken up with our area councillor Harpreet Kaur Babla of Ward number 10. An anti-stray dog team of MC came. The team told my wife and neighbour to do the impossible task: identify the dog which attacked them,” said Sanjeev Aggarwal, husband of victim Anita Aggarwal.
Councillor Harpreet Kaur Babla said, “The sterilisation programme of Chandigarh MC is an eyewash. I am saddened to say our stray dog catching squad really does not want to work. Their best excuse is: Law does not allow us to remove a dog from its particular territory and after sterilisation, we have to put the dog back at the same place from where it was caught. The sterilisation programme was halted due to Covid-19 in 2021. It was started recently. But residents are falling prey to stray dogs every day in Chandigarh.”
When contacted, MOH Dr Vinay M Bhagat, who heads dog-catching squad and sterilisation programme, said, “We act on every complaint of dog bite incidents. Indeed, it is difficult for the victims to identify the furious dogs. Our team members study the behaviour pattern of the dogs and catch them. The sterilisation programme is going on. We urge local residents not to feed stray dogs randomly. There should be a particular place of feeding of stray dogs.”
As per an estimate, around 5,100 dog bite cases were reported in Chandigarh in 2022. More than 475 dog bite cases have been reported till May 25 this year.
