BERHAMPUR: Stray dogs are becoming a menace day by day with innocent children mostly being the victims in Rayagada town.
In the last 10 days, more than 70 people including children of the town have been attacked by stray dogs while 43 dog-bite cases have been registered at District Headquarters Hospital (DHH).
Similarly, accidents caused by stray dogs are also on the rise. On Wednesday, Paresh Mishra, a school teacher in the town, sustained severe injuries as stray dogs attacked him on Fire Station Road.
Locals alleged that despite repeated requests by residents, Rayagada Municipality has kept mum over the matter. As the civic administration has failed to sterilise the dogs, their population has been rising.
Unscientific disposal of stale non-vegetarian food by hotel owners and offal by meat vendors are found to be main reasons for the increasing attacks by the dogs, they said.
Rayagada District Congress Committee president Durga Prasad Panda alleged that no step has been taken by municipal authorities to contain the menace for the last five years. The authorities need to take note of the matter and act upon it, he said.
Dibya Prakash Moharana of Gandhi Nagar said the menace is increasing day by day. The students and women are main victims of the stray dogs, he added.
Meanwhile, expressing discontentment over the issue, locals killed around 100 stray dogs recently. They sought a directive from district administration to remove the dogs from the streets and demanded urgent intervention on the issue.
When contacted, Executive Officer of Rayagada Municipality SM Pattajoshi said there is no programme like sterilisation of stray dogs in the town. But steps will be initiated to check the menace soon, he added.