cities

Updated: Feb 03, 2020 00:16 IST

A three-and-a-half-year-old girl from Indira Colony suffered injuries on her face after a stray dog attacked her on Sunday morning.

The incident took place around 10am when the girl, identified as Radhika, was playing in the neighbourhood. She was rushed to the Civil Hospital in Sector 6, Panchkula, but as there was no anti-rabies vaccine available at the hospital, she was referred to Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32. Her condition is stated to be stable.

This is the second incident of a stray dog attack on a child in Panchkula in the last two weeks. On January 22, a two-and-a-half-year-old boy from Sector 4 was attacked by a stray dog when he was playing outside his house. He had suffered injuries on his leg.

Even as the civic body has been banking on the sterilisation project underway in the city, the city sees an average of 10 to 12 dog-bite cases a day. Figures collected from Panchkula civil hospital revealed that from January 2019 to the last week of January this year, the hospital has received 5,097 cases of dog bites. Around 8,655 dogs have been sterilised in city between May 2018 and December 2019, as per the MC.

The civic body is hoping that the ₹3-crore dog rescue and rehabilitation centre, coming up at Sukhdarshanpur village, near Ramgarh, will also help deal with the menace.