DogExpress
The Resident Welfare association in Chandigarh has proposed to set up a “Cruelty against humans association” where residents of Chandigarh can file official complaints regarding dog bites.
The representatives of RWAs have raised the issue with the city MP Kirron Kher and told her that the civic authority has no solution in place to deal with the rising dog bite cases in the city. According to the RWAs, the administration should come up with a viable solution before things get out of hand and people start taking the matter into their own hands.
The members of Chandigarh Residents Welfare Federation (Crawfed) and Federation of Sector Welfare Association (Foswac) have been highlighting the stray dog bite issues in their monthly meetings since last 3 months.
One of the members from the citizen awareness group said that since the administration took over the SPCA, there has been a striking increase in the number of stray dogs in the city. The administration should let an NGO run it.
Many residents voiced their concern that there has been a strict UT policy that no stray dog should be harmed. “Why is there no policy for the safety of residents who are suffering due to stray dogs?” There have been numerous stray dog bite cases reported from various sectors on a daily basis. It should be dealt with as cruelty against humans and strict action should be taken.
The president of Bright Association, Mr. Kuldeep Singh Gill said that a recent scuffle took place between dog lovers and residents as the residents requested the dog lovers to not feed the stray dogs on the street and should have a single feeding location.
MP Kirron Kher said that this is the issue for Municipal corporation to deal with and she cannot do anything about it. She said that a dog pound could be constructed but that won’t be a long-term solution if the stray population keeps increasing. She also requested the dog lovers to not feed the stray dogs on the street and allocate a single feeding location to ensure the safety of people on the streets.
Chandigarh Civic Authority Lacks Direction
The dog sterilization work was stopped about a month ago and is not likely to resume anytime soon. According to sources, there have been no bids for the tender floated by the MC for hiring an agency to do the job.
Since the term of the previous contractor has expired, the sterilization has been stopped. Their contract wasn’t extended, following which all the sterilization work was stopped.
Dr Amrit Warring, Medical Officer of Health (MOH), MC, said, “Actually, there are a very few agencies working in this field. So, we did not get any bidder. We will study the norms and float the tender again.”
Highlighting the issues of common people and residents of the city, FOSWAC chairman said,
“Residents, especially old people, avoid visiting parks in some areas for the fear of dogs.”
During a conversation with Dr. Warring, the president of Second Innings association, Mr. RK Garg said,
“The MC has the infrastructure, including dog care centre and veterinary hospital. Why do they depend on someone else for every small thing? When agencies do not fulfill terms and conditions, the MC should do it. Why should residents suffer?”
Dr. Warring confirmed,
“We are deliberating on this aspect and will look at all possibilities.”
The two dedicated dispensaries in Sector 19 and 38, being run by the civic body, see around 300-400 dog-bite cases on a daily basis. The people who get treatment in other government hospitals and private hospitals are not accounted for in the figure mentioned.
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in Chandigarh, India. 
