DHARMAPURI: The residents and sports persons training at the Dharmapuri stadium are distressed by stray dogs loitering around here and disrupting their training and fitness routine.
The Dharmapuri stadium is one of the key locations where school, college students, and elderly people gather for their daily fitness routines and aspiring Athletes train for their competitions. However, the increasing number of stray dogs in the stadium interrupts them. Hence, residents sought the municipality to take steps to curb the dog population.
S Muniraj, a resident of Pidamineri said, “The stadium is often visited by elderly people, youth, aspiring athletes, and those aspiring to be in the uniformed services. On average, at least 200 people come here daily. However, for the past year, people coming here have been increasingly distressed by stray dogs as they either bark at them or chase the people walking here. It won’t be long before someone gets bit. The elderly people are the most distressed as they are not able to chase away these dogs.”
P Kadiresan, an athlete training here, said, “Many youths like me train here for various events like Kabadi, Volleyball, Sprint, and many others. Some are training for their state or nation levels and during training, if they get bitten, it will severely affect their performance. So, efforts must be taken tot ensure that the athletes and others are not harmed.”
When TNIE spoke to the staff managing the stadium, they said, “So far there have been no incidents caused by these dogs and most often even if we chase them away, they keep coming back.”
When TNIE tried to contact municipal officials, they were unavailable.