Delhi residents stage sit-in to protest rising dog bite cases

According to a report, 58,000 cases of dog bites were reported within six months in Delhi’s Dr Ram Manohar Lohia and Safdarjung hospitals.

Delhi residents protest against the rising dog bite cases in the city (India Today photo)

By Ram Kinkar Singh: The Residents Welfare Association of Delhi’s Rajouri Garden area staged a sit-in on Wednesday against the rising dog bite cases in the city and across the country. According to a report, 58,000 cases of dog bites were reported within six months in Dr Ram Manohar Lohia and Safdarjung hospitals.

Former minister of state Vijay Goel said, “If we see the statistics of all the hospitals, then lakhs of cases will come out. According to an estimate, there are 10 to 12 incidents of dog bites every hour.”

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Goel claimed that in 2019, the Kejriwal government had formed a house committee on the problem of dogs under the chairmanship of Somnath Bharti. However, Goel said the recommendations of the committee have not been implemented till date. “If the government was serious, then the number of stray dogs could have been controlled in four years,” he added.

The fear of dogs has been spreading with incidents of dog bites being reported at a higher frequency. The stray dog menace is also continuously increasing. Dogs are biting children, people in the streets and in parks.

Recently, two brothers, aged 5 and 7, were killed in an attack by stray dogs in two separate incidents within a span of days.

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