DNA Exclusive: Rise in dog bite incidents - Strays to blame or dog lovers?

New Delhi: In a horrific incident, a stray dog mauled a 7-month-old baby to death at Lotus Boulevard Society in Noida Sector 100. The stray dog scratched the child so badly that the child's entire stomach burst. The baby's intestines came out. The child was rescued from the dogs and admitted to the hospital by the people of the society. But even after the surgery, the child could not be saved. The incident has led to a serious debate on the presence of stray dogs in residential societies.

In today's DNA, Zee News' Rohit Ranjan will discuss the repercussions of the incident and how it has flared up varying emotions in Delhi-NCR residents. Delhi-NCR has been a series of dog attack incidents in the past few weeks. 

#DNA : आवारा कुत्तों को किसने बनाया 'किलर'? #StrayDogs #Noida @irohitr pic.twitter.com/nWCVSXbGUw — Zee News (@ZeeNews) October 18, 2022

 

The child's parents worked as labourers in society. The father has gone to his village in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh with the body of his child. This has led to anger toward dog lovers.

The question that arises with dog lovers defending dogs despite these incidents is - Are the rights of stray dogs more important or human rights of people?

People For Animals (PFA), however, continues to support stray dogs despite such incidents. The anger is not towards dogs but dog lovers as one can't expect animals to act rationally.

According to the information given in Parliament, there are 1 crore 53 lakh stray dogs in India. As per government data, stray dogs killed more than 17 lakh people in India in 2021. The World Health Organization (WHO) has data that 20,000 rabies deaths occur in India every year. These figures testify to how much the terror of stray dogs is. It is imperative that dog lovers understand the dangerous side of stray dogs. For instance, if we see a snake in the house, we do not leave it because it has not bitten anyone. Similarly, stray dogs cannot be left saying that they have not bitten anyone.