HYDERABAD: News of a 5-year-old boy's death after he was bitten by a stray dog while playing in Khammam district shook the state again, even as memories were still fresh of the death of 4-year-old Pradeep being mauled to death in February.
Reports of a street dog attacking 16 people, of whom eight were children, in Vinayaknagar, Balanagar, on Saturday only added to the panic.
Residents in the Secunderabad Cantonment are upset by the rising number of stray dog attacks. "The fear of dogs among people has increased because of the recent incidents. The dogs become extremely ferocious at night making it difficult for us to go on nights in the dark, something we used to do often. Just last night, a couple of dogs almost pounced on my in-laws who were visiting us, it was scary," said Preeti Putla, a resident of Asha Officers Colony.
Putla, who also takes tuition for children in the area, said that a student and his parents now worry about the child’s safety. "My home is a two-minute walk from his but he now takes a 15-minute-long detour from behind our home to evade the dogs that mostly rest at the entrance of our lane. I worry for his safety until he reaches home and his parents update me of it, every evening," Preeti said.
Rashid Khan, a resident of RK Puram said that earlier, the dogs were easy to shoo away but not anymore. "I'm not sure if it's the hot weather or they've just become immune to us. This area is relatively dry and the garbage is usually cleared quickly, so the lack of water, food and shelter make them more aggressive now," he said.
J. Ramakrishna, a Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) member, said that they were in talks with several authorities to help draft better policies and arrive at solutions that work in the best interests of the residents and the dogs.
"We have neutered, vaccinated and geotagged the dogs in the area. Another drive will happen soon too. It's a prevailing issue and we're exploring solutions that work," Ramakrishna said adding that until then, they continue to be vigilant about the stray dogs in the area to ensure no such incidents take place.
