Angry residents stage ‘barking’ protest

CHENNAI: What do you do when repeated complaints about stray dog menace fail to evoke any action from officials? A group of Pallavaram residents hit upon a rather novel idea: stage a ‘barking protest’ outside the Corporation office.

Recently, a Class 11 girl who was returning home from tuition suffered injuries after she fell down while fleeing from stray dogs in Chromepet. Residents said this was only the latest in a series of dog menace incidents, and alleged that the people across Tambaram Corporation, including Chromepet, Pallavaram, Hastinapuram, Pammal, Anakaputhur, Selaiyur, and Perungalathur, have been facing the same issue.

“We requested the Corporation to control stray dogs, but all pleas fell on deaf ears. So a group of activists gathered in front of the zonal office on Tuesday and protested by barking,” V Santhanam, a social activist. Further drama was added when the strays, too, started barking, attracting the attention of passersby.

When they went to the zonal office to hand over the petition, there was no senior official who could collect it. Hence, they kept it near the flag pole and later staged the protest.