Stray dog attacks pensioner outside DC office in Chandigarh

The 74-year-old man was getting an affidavit prepared when the incident took place

A 74-year-old man was attacked and bitten on the leg by a stray dog outside the deputy commissioner’s office in Sector 17 on Tuesday.

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Identified as Kabool Chand, a retired employee of the UT health department, the victim was getting an affidavit prepared when the incident took place.

The city has been witnessing a rapid increase in stray dog population from 7,847 in 2012 to 12,900 in 2019. The number of dog bite cases has also gone up by 35% in the last five years, according to data available with the MC.

The victim’s daughter, Nisha, who was accompanying him, said: “We were getting an affidavit prepared at a notary near the DC office. A pack of half a dozen stray dogs was sitting nearby. Suddenly, one of them attacked my father and bit him on his leg. He fell on the ground and started to bleed profusely from the deep wound in his leg. I rushed him to the dispensary in Sector 22, but he kept bleeding.”

Notably, on Tuesday, the MC started stray dog sterilisation drive after a gap of more than a year. The contract with the previous firm had ended in September 2019.