Tral: The figures available at the sub district hospital Tral reveal that 252 people, mostly children, have been bitten by stray dogs in 2017. The records also show that 14 fresh dog bite cases have been reported in January 2018 alone.
The residents of Tral in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district have expressed strong resentment against the Municipal Committee Tral (MCT) for failing to curb the dog menace in the town.
“The stray dog population has increase manifold in various areas including the New Bus stand Tral, Batnag area, Uptown area, Pinglish, Diver, Amirabad and other parts of Tral,” the people from these areas told INS.
They said the canines have been storming all the streets, chasing school going children and often attacking pedestrians mostly in Batnag and New Bus Stand area.
One of the drivers Shahid Ahmad told INS that the stray dogs are troubling drivers and elderly people while going to washrooms in new Sumo stand.
“Stray dogs have wreaked havoc at the Bus stand area of Tral near washrooms where they stay for hours,” he said.
However, the municipal authorities said they are not authorised to stop the dog menace in the area.
“As per the Supreme Court orders, we are not authorised to kill or sterilise dogs. Animal husbandry department may help in decreasing dog population through sterilisation,” Executive Officer Municipal Committee Tral, Mohammad Ismail Mir told INS.
Meanwhile, people have requested authorities to “stop this menace at the earliest”.
