Odisha: Owner booked after pet dog bites 8-yr-old boy

Sucheta Mohanty Khatoi of Tapaswini Colony in the Patia area of Bhubaneswar in a complaint to the police alleged that her son sustained serious injuries after he was attacked by their neighbour Patnaik’s dog

A pet dog was sent to animal shelter after he bit and badly injured an 8-year-old boy in Odisha’s Bhubaneshwar.

The incident took place on November 6 when the boy was riding a bicycle in the colony (Representative Image)

The dog, an American Akita breed, belonged to Shrabani Patnaik and her husband Jagannath Patnaik, vice-chancellor of ICFAI Sikkim, the police said.

Sucheta Mohanty Khatoi of Tapaswini Colony in the Patia area of Bhubaneswar in a complaint to the police alleged that her son sustained serious injuries after he was attacked by their neighbour Patnaik’s dog.

The incident took place on November 6 when the boy was riding a bicycle in the colony.

According to the police, the boy sustained seven puncture wounds on his body including three on his stomach and four on his back after being bitten by the dog.

Following the complaint, the dog was taken to a shelter house while a case was registered against the owners.

“A case was registered against Shrabani Patnaik under Section 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animal) IPC after the dog badly mauled the 8-year-old boy. The dog was shifted out of the apartment in the afternoon after the incident,” said an officer of Infocity police station.

“The boy was admitted to a private hospital where he underwent surgery and received 10 stitches and more than 30 injections. The doctors said my son suffered Category-III wounds,” said the officer.

The mother alleged that the dog has always been very very aggressive and attacked other residents of the society. “We have been requesting and pleading with our neighbour to take that dog out of the society for the safety of others,” Khatoi wrote on her Facebook page.

However, the dog’s owner has claimed that her pet is trained and he had only reacted after the boy’s cycle fell over him.

Notably, the Noida Authority recently formulated a policy regarding pet animals under which pet owners have to register their dogs or cats by January 31, 2023, or risk a fine. In case of any injury caused due to pet dogs or cats, a penalty of ₹ 10,000 will be imposed.