Jalandhar: Administration to decide further course of action today

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, February 7

The death of a 32-year-old woman due to the attack by a ferocious pack of dogs has raised a question mark on whether the animal birth control programme, hitherto concentrated around cities, is enough to manage the problem of growing population of stray dogs.

Queries to key officials in Kapurthala revealed that no dog sterilisation programme was being run for stray dogs in the rural areas of Kapurthala so far.

After holding a meeting on the issue today, the Kapurthala administration has scheduled another meeting for 10 am tomorrow to chalk out a plan to manage stray dogs of Passan Kadim village.

Bred on carcasses dumped at an animal carcass dumping ground near Passan Kadim village, stray dogs, which mauled 32-year-old Ram Pari, didn’t leave any skin on the woman’s attacked body parts. It is through her hair and clothes that her husband was able to recognise her. The incident left villagers in a state of shock.

Village resident Baljinder Singh said: “The migrant woman was attacked by dogs when she went to bring fodder for their cow. Stray dogs attacked a child around a week ago. Another woman, identified as Pinki Devi, was similarly attacked, rendering her limbs incapable. We brought the issue verbally to the administration’s notice but no action has been taken so far. We demand that these labourers should be compensated and the problem of stray dogs be solved immediately. Everyone is scared of going out at night. Farmers can’t go to their fields.”

The incident has sent shock waves in Sultanpur Lodhi town too. Deepak Dhir, chief of the Sultanpur Lodhi Nagar Council, said: “The village isn’t under our jurisdiction. It’s 10 km away from Sultanpur Lodhi. Thankfully, barring a few routine incidents, nothing this serious has ever been reported within the Sultanpur Lodhi Nagar Council. We do not have any animal birth control or dog sterilisation programme. Only some teams from the Kapurthala council come from time to time. I will take up the issue with the administration so that there was a solution to the stray dog menace.”

Sultanpur Lodhi SDM Jaspreet Singh said: “We didn’t receive any complaint regarding stray dog menace from this village earlier. This morning, we received a verbal complaint from villagers. It’s for the first time that I came to know about Ram Pari as well as the child who died a week ago. The DC immediately convened a meeting. Another meeting will be held at 10 am tomorrow to find a permanent solution to stray dog menace in Passan Kadim. Either the dogs will be shifted to a rehabilitation centre or sterilisation will be sought. Pinki is also admitted to the surgical ward of the Civil Hospital. I will visit her tomorrow. She is out of danger and we are monitoring her health as well.”