Retired Principal Injured in Stray Dog Attack at Jankipuram in Lucknow

In Lucknow’s Jankipuram area, a retired principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya was severely injured after being attacked by a pack of street dogs on Friday morning.

A resident of Srishti Apartment in Jankipuram named Vinod Kumar Dixit, was attacked when he went to purchase milk outside his complex at around 6 a.m.

Dixit tried to help another person being attacked by a dog when he was bitten by the pack of dogs. The street dogs bit off the flesh from his hand, and he fell to the ground, sustaining further injuries.

Dixit managed to reach the apartment’s gate and was taken to the hospital. According to his daughter Kanchan Shukla, the wound is severe, and the bones are visible. She also stated that the doctors said it would take longer to heal.

Society complex residents heavily criticised the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) for failing to address the stray dog menace in the neighbourhood, claiming that the civic body had turned a blind eye towards their concerns despite numerous incidents.

Vivek Sharma, a member of the resident welfare association of Srishti apartment, threatened to boycott the civic polls if the problem was not addressed.

Sharma also sent a letter to CM Yogi Adityanath on an online grievance redressal portal. He suggested that dog shelters should be set up on the lines of several cow shelters in the state.

Abhinav Verma, the Chief Veterinary Officer of LMC, said that a team was sent to the location of the attack on Friday, and one male dog had been caught and for sterilization. “We have been running several campaigns to sterilise stray dogs. There is no big facility where stray dogs can be kept while we’re also bound by the law of not relocating stray canines,” he added.

A dog expert named Harsh Raghuvanshi said that ABC program and aggressive sterilization were the only way forward. He explained that when residents come across street dogs that bark at them or try to chase them, they have only options to run away or hit them, which triggers dogs’ defense mechanism and they become even more aggressive.