Residents troubled with stray dog menace, conflicts continue

Residents of Prateek Wisteria in sector 77 had filed a complaint with the local police on June 24 after a person was bitten in the society’s basement.

Residents in the district say the administration was not taking any action despite complaints of stray dogs biting people.

Residents allege that any time they object to animals’ presence, local people harassed them. (HT photo)

Residents of Prateek Wisteria in sector 77 had filed a complaint with the local police on June 24 after a person was bitten in the society’s basement.

“In the last one year we have had at least 14 instances of dog bites and aggression. The problem is that no one is ready to take responsibility for stray dogs. There have been multiple complaints, but apart from sterilization nothing has been done. Residents are scared of going into the basement where many of them stay. A permanent solution needs to come for this problem before more such cases happen,” said Amit Gupta, president of the society’s apartment owners association (AOA).

Residents allege that any time they object to animals’ presence, local people harassed them.

“They rope in NGOs and start threatening us with legal action even though all we want is that public spaces where kids play or people walk remain safe. Basements become a special problem where these animals reside in large numbers. We must have at least 60 stray dogs in the society. A woman had recently complained that her Mercedes had been scratched by a dog. There needs to be a solution to this menace,” said Arun Sharma, president, AOA, Supertech Capetown.

A local NGO said people need to be educated on how to handle such situations.

“On June 10, a man had been arrested for assaulting a woman who was feeding the dogs in the Omicron 2 area. He even attacked a teenager who tried to intervene. These incidents show that people are not willing to co-exist,” said Kaveri Bhardwaj, president, People for Animals, an NGO working for animal welfare.

She said that for most dogs, sterilisation helped rein in their aggression.

In Gautam Budh Nagar, an organisation has been roped in by the Noida authority for sterilization.

“We have been working for three years now and sterilisation helps with an aggressive dog. In case, the aggression continues we rehabilitate them at the animal shelter for 15-20 days and then they are taken back to their areas while we urge the local feeders to continue with the medication. The only solution to this problem is if both groups stop being adamant and come to amicable solutions,” said Rafat Ahmad, project manager, sterilisation unit, Noida authority.

The animal shelter in sector 94 houses nearly 900 dogs while the stray dog population in the district hovers around 6000.