HYDERABAD: Hyderabad Mayor Gadwal Vijayalaxmi expressed her grief over the tragic death of a four-year-old boy who was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs in Bagh Amberpet, and ordered an immediate inquiry into the incident to determine the reasons for the attack. The Mayor held a meeting with officials from GHMC’s veterinary wing at the GHMC head office on Tuesday to discuss the incident, and instructed them to submit a report at the earliest.
The Mayor said the dogs might have been hungry, as an octogenarian woman from the area who would feed them regularly had not turned up for two days, leading to the attack on the child. Vijayalakshmi refuted to own responsibility for the increasing frequency of canine attacks in city, and said the civic body is making every effort to carry out sterilisations.
“The incident of the child being mauled to death by street dogs is very unfortunate. On behalf of the State government, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will provide assistance to the boy’s parents,” the Mayor said.
Mayor Vijayalaxmi explained that animal birth control and anti-rabies injections have been provided to each circle to prevent such incidents from occurring. Complaints about stray dogs are being regularly monitored and appropriate action is being taken, with two officers and one vehicle assigned to each circle for this purpose. Necessary steps will also be taken to take care of the dogs during the summer season.
To address the issue of stray dogs attacking people, especially children, GHMC is planning to start a dog adoption programme in all 30 circles. The corporation aims to achieve a target of 600 dog adoptions every month with the help of the public. “Out of the 5.70 lakh street dogs in the city, 75 per cent have been sterilised,” the Mayor said. Sterilisation and anti-rabies vaccination are being done through five animal care centres of GHMC to ensure public safety. In the past three years, 50,091 stray dogs were sterilised in 2020-21, 73,601 in 2021-22 and 40,155 in 2022-23.
In response to the problem of stray dogs and monkeys in various parts of the city, Minister for Animal Husbandry, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, expressed deep concern over the tragic incident and announced that a special meeting will be held on February 23 at his office in Masab Tank to address the issue.
The Minister said that the meeting will be held with GHMC and veterinary officials to discuss measures that can be taken to solve the problem, particularly for women and children who are facing difficulties due to the issue.