Complaints of dog menace rattle Tiruchy council meet

TIRUCHY: Members of Tiruchy Corporation Council on Tuesday aired concerns about dog menace prevailing in the city and urged the civic body to curb it at once as several incidents of dog bites have been reported.

Councillors cutting across party lines at the council meeting, presided by Mayor Mu Anbalagan, complained of stray cattle menace in several areas of the city and demanded immediate steps to save the people.

S Sujatha (Congress) said, several dog bite incidents have been reported from her ward. “Many people, especially vehicle users, are quite often chased by stray dogs and last week a senior citizen who was chased by dogs, fell down and sustained injuries,” she said and asked the civic body to find a solution immediately.

Suresh (CPM) said that the number of stray dogs has increased alarmingly in the past few months even after the officials claimed to have carried out a sterilisation drive. “This apart, several dogs roam with scabs in residential areas and we fear that it might spread to the people if timely measures are not initiated,” he said.

Similarly, Suresh (CPI) said that the civic body should establish a shelter for stray dogs and prevent them from roaming on the streets.

Responding to the concerns, the Mayor said, Tiruchy Corporation has the highest number of sterilisation centres and 1,000 sterilisations per month have been planned. “So far we have two dog vehicles and two more will come soon. On an average, the workers are asked to catch 30 dogs a day,” he said.