BERHAMPUR: A series of mishaps have put focus firmly on the growing stray animal threat in Berhampur city.
On Friday, a couple sustained injuries when a cow suddenly came in front of their scooter near the Congress office chowk. The injured couple had to be rushed to the City Hospital for treatment. In a separate incident, two youths were hurt after falling from their bike while trying to escape from a pack of stray dogs at Ainabandh Street.
The problem has doubled since last year’s viral video of a woman and child being chased by stray dogs. Cattle and dogs routinely obstruct city roads and the NH, creating trouble at night. An estimated 26,000 stray dogs now roam the city, drawn by waste from fast food joints.
The Berhampur Municipal Corporation’s (BeMC) initiatives have shown little success. The Animal Birth Control programme launched in 2010 remains ineffective, with no dogs sterilised. A facility built in 2014 with kennels and an operation theatre sits unused, while all trained staff have retired.
Similarly, BeMC’s 2019 initiative to tag 7,000 stray cattle and penalise owners has failed to curb the problem. The last animal census counted 6,359 cows and 793 buffaloes but numbers have since doubled. A proposed Rs 90 lakh cowshed project started in 2022, remains incomplete despite recent appeals by Corporator Surendra Moharana in the council meeting.