Image
Stray dogs
A five-year-old girl from Khutari village in Panvel taluka died after been attacked by four stray dogs on Sunday around 7am. The dogs bit the minor girl with such severity that a nerve of her neck was damaged causing her death within 30 minutes after being admitted to the hospital.

Pratiksha Sharu accompanied by her sibling Meena (7) had gone to answer nature's call in the open near her house, when the four stray dogs started barking at her. The dogs chased her, after she panicked and started running away, and soon pounced upon her and bit her all over the body. However, her elder sister managed to escape.

The victim's father Dol Bahadur Sharu (35), who works as a delivery van driver for a private printing press said, "We came to know about the incident only when Meena came home running and told that dogs have bitten Pratiksha. We rushed to the spot behind the parked van and found my daughter lying in a pool of blood. We rushed her to MGM hospital in Kamothe. The doctors declared her dead half an hour after admitting her to the hospital."

Sharu added, "I am unable to understand, who should be blamed for the incident. My minor daughter became a victim of the stray dogs menace due to the apathy of the government agencies who have been unable to control the stray dog population."

Ravindra Patil, former Sarpanch of Khutari village under Rohinjan Grampanchayat said, "Stray dogs' attacking the girl is the first such incident in Khutari village. Recently, many stray dogs have wandered into the village and local villagers have attempted to catch the stray dogs but were unsuccessful. We shall demand that the Sarpanch take necessary steps to arrange for dog catchers to trap the stray dogs and hand them over to the stray animal shelters with CIDCO or NMMC."

Animal activist Aditi Lahiri said, "As it is the mating season for the dogs, they get agitated even if they do not get regular feeding. It is the duty of the government bodies to sterilize the stray dogs. The government allocated funds for stray dog sterilization is allegedly not used in a proper manner."