Bitten by dogs, blocked by cattle

As far as we do not learn how to handle our garbage, stray dogs will continue to remain in our vicinity and create menace to those who provoke them.

This stark reality stares at Bengaluru, once famed as the garden city, a sobriquet seriously under threat by the trash piled up along its streets and the strays hovering around.

The increasing dog bite cases have only added to the trouble.

Such cases rise dramatically during the breeding season, from December to January and from June to July. Dog bite cases are sensationalised without understanding the facts, notes Dr Pervez Ahmed Piran, retired assistant commissioner, department of animal husbandry, BBMP.

Having served in the Palike for nearly seven years, Dr Piran says that dogs do not bite unless they are provoked. Most of the dog bite cases have been reported in the slum areas, where the children are left unattended by their parents. These are the pockets that need awareness campaigns on how to avoid dog bites, he feels.

In 2012, when five-year-old Jishnu G was mauled by a stray dog, BBMP had paid Rs 26,500 from the corporation towards treatment. However, after the boy’s father filed a PIL in the High Court, the court ordered BBMP to pay a compensation of Rs five lakh to the victim.

The court had also directed the Palike to come up with a compensation package for all those who have suffered stray dog bites. Following this direction, BBMP came out with a package based on the severity of the dog bite. Accordingly, a child would get up to Rs 50,000 and an adult would get Rs one lakh as compensation.

According to Dr T Shivarama Bhat, Joint Director (Animal Husbandry), BBMP, there are around four lakh stray dogs in the City. On an average, 1,500 cases of dog bite are registered in a month. This trend, he informs, has been slowly decreasing due to the Anti-birth control (ABC) and Anti-rabies vaccination (ARV) drive that are being carried out through various NGOs across the City.

In the financial year 2013-14, a total of 6,831 cases of known dog bite cases were recorded in the City. During 2014-15, this figure went up drastically to 11,171 known dog bite cases. This year, BBMP has managed to receive just one month's report. A total of 999 dog bite cases were recorded in April alone.

On an average, the Palike has been spending close to Rs two crore on the ABC and ARV programmes. The programmes were discontinued in 2013 before restarting two months ago. Dr Bhat says the programme has been intermittent and for a short while, it was not effectively carried out.

In the past one year, through five NGOs, BBMP has managed to carry out ABC programme on 8,351 stray dogs and vaccinated 6,104 dogs.

Since April 2015, nearly 275 stray dogs have been vaccinated and sterilised. Explaining how records of payments to NGOs are maintained, Dr Bhat says that every second day, BBMP officers including him, visit the place where the programmes are conducted.
 
The reproductive organs of the dogs are removed and destroyed in front of the officer. This is to maintain the record on the number of canines that have undergone the programme.  An amount of Rs 650 is paid for every dog that is vaccinated and sterilised by the NGOs.

Besides this, BBMP has also written to the department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services to provide 24X7 veterinary hospital services to all animals including cows, camels, donkeys, dogs and cats.

According to Dr Bhat, since the veterinary college in Hebbal is the only place where animals are treated round the clock, the Palike has proposed to set up similar centres in different parts of the City. The Urban Development Department has written to the Animal Husbandry department to set up 24-hour veterinary services recently.