Notwithstanding three to four dog attacks in the area, Ambernath police take action on the animals only after one of their own personnel gets bitten; 45-year-old cop is now stable



The incident happened after Ambernath resident Devdatt Pothinge reached the police station for duty in the morning. Illustration/Uday Mohite

He bit one of their own, and that’s finally what led to action being taken.

The Ambernath police cracked down on the menace of stray dogs in the vicinity after one attacked a 45-year-old constable attached to the police station yesterday. One of the inspectors informed the civic authorities and, subsequently, the stray was caught.

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The dog has earlier attacked other people as well.

A bite too far

The incident happened after Ambernath resident Devdatt Pothinge reached the police station for duty in the morning. Around 11.30 am, when he was getting inside the police station, the dog attacked him. “There were three to four strays there; one of them came running and bit my right leg. I somehow managed to shake it off, and later, took medicine,” said Constable Pothinge.

Senior Inspector Balkrishna Wagh informed the Ambernath Municipal Council. Civic officials reached the area later in the day and caught two stray dogs and took them for operation. “After the incident, we called up the authorities, who sent a team to the spot and caught a couple of stray dogs that were creating trouble,” added Wagh.

Official speak

Wagh admitted that this wasn’t the first such incident in the area. “Earlier, there had been three to four occasions when the stray had attacked people. For the first time, a constable was bit,” he said.

Ambernath Municipal Council CEO Ganesh Deshmukh said, “Such attacks have been on the rise in the recent past. Hence, we have increased our vigil. Our officials keep taking rounds within city limits to catch stray dogs. If it’s not possible to get them operated on, we give them injections. That way, even if they bite someone, the person will not get infected.”

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“In this case too, after we received the complaint, our officials reached the spot and caught a few strays. We will check whether they underwent an operation and, accordingly, give treatment, so that they don’t harm anyone else,” he added.