Stray dog menace in HSR

Residents want them caught by BBMP

By QAMAR HJ

Strays are all over HSR Layout. The dogs not just roam around the streets but also terrorise motorists and residents walking on the roads. “This morning, a gang of six dogs chased a scooterist who suffered a fracture on his left hand along with other multiple injuries,” said Adarsh Kothari. “This is a sad situation. Can we do something to get rid of this dog menace?” This message was posted in the Sector 3 Whatsapp Group whose co-admin is Zahid H Javali, the editor of Residents Watch. The stray dog story did not stop there. Another Sector 3 resident Ravi MR reported: “It’s sad that a person fell off his scooter when a group of dogs chased him. He suffered a fractured hand and cuts on his face, thanks to BBMP’s apathy.”

The residents did not leave it at that. Adarsh logged a complaint with the BBMP helpline and expected the dog catchers to do their job. But no one turned up. This was the story a few months ago. Today, the scene is different. “The dogs have reduced to 2-3 compared to 7-8 earlier,” he says. “We couldn’t stand outside our house to get our kids to board the school bus. A dog had given birth to seven puppies and was quite protective for her kids.” The BBMP didn’t do anything about this issue. “Soon, almost all the puppies died for reasons not known, and the situation is much better now.”

Says Vijayalakshmi Anand, the president of Sector 4 Residents Welfare Association: “Proper sterilisation is not happening. There are reports of young kids being eaten by dogs. The dog menace is now similar to the pig menace in HSR.”

However, Ravi Kumar, who is incharge of Animal Husbandry at BBMP (Bommanahalli) said that the sterilisation by the NGOs has begun and both the anti-rabies vaccine and anti-birth control measures are being administered in the entire ward. “We have not had cases of dog bites,” he told Residents Watch. “Whenever we get complaints of the dog menace, we go to the spot, catch the unsterilised dogs, sterilise them, and leave them back where they were caught. We cannot relocate them due to a Supreme Court order.”