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Goa toddler playing outside her house mauled to death by stray dogs
According to data presented by the Union health ministry in the Lok Sabha, dog bite cases in Goa have more than doubled from 8,057 in 2022 to 17,236 in 2024
PANAJI: A 21-month-old girl playing outside her uncle’s house was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs in north Goa’s Durgabhat area on Friday morning.
The toddler, Anabiya Shaikh, was staying at her maternal uncle’s house and had stepped out while playing when a pack of 4-5 dogs attacked her.
Her family rushed her to a nearby health centre but she was dead before they could get medical help.
“What happened is terrible -- to have such a young girl be mauled to death by dogs is shocking to hear,” Ponda municipal council chairperson Anand Naik said.
“As a municipality we have tied up with People for Animals who sterilise the animals. Some animals are also taken away but are returned to the original location after sterilisation,” Naik said.
The civic body has proposed to set up a shelter for community dogs and had sought land from the state government. But the government hadn’t acted on its request, said municipal councillor Ritesh Naik.
“The process is still underway and the government is yet to respond to the request,” said Ritesh Naik, who was previously the municipal chairperson.
Goa agriculture minister Ravi Naik, who represents the area in the assembly, said parents would have to take care of their own children since the state was not empowered to “hit” stray dogs anymore. “All we can do is sterilise and vaccinate them,” the minister said.
Speaking on the ongoing Livestock Census conducted every five years, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services department director VP Singh said in January this year that Goa was estimated to be home to 56,000 stray dogs. To be sure, the 2012 Livestock Census estimated that Goa had 16,325 stray dogs.
According to data presented by the Union health ministry in the Lok Sabha on April 1, dog bite cases in Goa have gone up from 8,057 in 2022 to 11,904 in 2023 and 17,236 in 2024. In January this year, the state reported 1789 bite cases.
In a post on X, leader of Opposition in the assembly Yuri Alemão said: "The street dog menace in our state has reached alarming proportions, with numerous attacks reported in the past and continuing to this day. Despite the growing threat, the government seems inactive. From beaches to the Assembly complex campus and across state”.
