Anilkumar T By

Express News Service

KOCHI: The deserted streets in the district coupled with the eerie silence broken occasionally by the whir of a passing vehicle during the ongoing lockdown — now into the fourth week — has further worsened the threat posed by stray dogs. Four persons, including a migrant worker, were mauled by stray dogs at Maradu on Thursday. One of them, Ramakrishnan, 65, who suffered a deep wound on his right leg, has been shifted to a private hospital after his condition deteriorated. Another migrant worker, who too had been bitten by a stray, has been moved to a private hospital. With hardly any food crumbs from hotels or eateries available now, the strays are left starving and this has made them aggressive and even more dangerous.

Ever since the lockdown kicked in on March 24, there has been a spurt in the number of dog bite cases, involving both packs and single canines, in the district. According to the data sourced from the district health department, 27 dog bite cases were reported in the district on Friday alone. In all, 464 dog bite cases have been reported in the district since March 24. This month alone, 305 dog bite cases were reported in the district. The break-up for January, February and March is 839, 850, and 800, respectively.

According to the members of the public, earlier the strays mainly attacked pedestrians but now even motorists are getting mauled. “The dogs are now showing aggressive behaviour. They attack those walking through the roads. We are really afraid of going outside. Even our neighbours were attacked by stray dogs,” said Allen Sebastian, a resident of Maradu.

“Normally, stray dogs used to get food from the streets. But due to the lockdown, open dumping of waste has come down. This has left the strays in the lurch. So far we haven’t come across any reports of dog bite,” said Mayor Soumini Jain, adding, the local bodies should ensure enough food for the stray dogs during the lockdown.

“Factoring in this, the government had issued a directive to all local bodies to ensure sufficient food for stray dogs. The government should see to it that the local bodies are indeed implementing it state-wide,” Jain said. However, vet Kishore Kumar, who led the corporation’s Animal Birth Control(ABC) programme, denied that the dog bites are due to unavailability of food for the strays. “We cannot say the spike in dog bite cases is due to the unavailability of food. It may be one of the reasons. Garbage control, responsible ownership and compulsory rabies vaccination are key to reining in the menace,” said Kishore.