The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : One more girl bitten by dogs

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Friday, Jan 12, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

One more girl bitten by dogs

Staff Reporter

Residents shocked at the incident; BMP vows to intensify drive

A CLOSE CALL: Seven-year-old Gowramma, who was attacked by four stray dogs at Chandra Layout in Bangalore on Thursday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: A week after a pack of nine dogs mauled to death eight-year-old Sridevi of BCC Layout in Chandra Layout, a seven-year-old girl was attacked by stray dogs in the same area. Fortunately, she was saved in the nick of time by her mother.

Although the child, Gowramma, is out of danger with bite marks on her head, the girl's mother Nagamma told The Hindu that her daughter was attacked by four dogs when she was standing on the road near a construction site on 9th Main, 4th Cross in Chandra Layout. Ms. Nagamma saw her daughter being attacked and chased away the dogs with a stick.

The victim's parents are migrant construction workers from Raichur who are employed at the construction site. "If I had not seen my daughter being attacked immediately, I would have lost her," she said.

The attack occurred just a few feet from where the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike's (BMP) dog catching van was stationed. Immediately after the attack, the parents took her to a nearby private hospital and some people informed the BMP official posted at the dog-catching squad.

Residents shocked

Residents, who are shocked over the incident being repeated within a span of seven days in the same area, blamed the BMP. "The whole dog catching drive is a farce. Dogs are still roaming in the area," said D.B. Manjunath, an eyewitness to Sridevi's attack.

BMP Joint Commissioner (South) V. Yeshwanth said that since last week's attack, the civic body had intensified efforts to catch stray dogs. "We will intensify the drive and try our best to check the menace," he said.

He said the BMP had caught 177 dogs from the area since Friday. "Now we have found that stray canines are coming into the area from Ganagondanahalli and Rajarajeshwarinagar City Municipal Council (CMC) localities. We will extend the drive to these areas," he said. An official press release from the BMP said the drive had been intensified despite protests from animal lovers. "Of the 780 dogs caught so far, 581 dogs found to be aggressive have been subjected to mercy killing," the release said.

Helplines

BMP: 22975566; ARF: 65733445; Krupa: 22224541; CUPA: 22947302 and Karuna: 23411181.

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