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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS

MONTH: May 2007

Bangalore dog panic spreads to Hyderabad

 

HYDERABAD--The fear and outrage about dog attacks gripping Bangalore for more than three months spread to Hyderabad in April 2007, two years after the city administration took over the local Animal Birth Control program and allegedly used the pretext of capturing dogs for sterilization as cover for killing dogs in high volume.

Partly because of that history, the Hyderabad dog panic was relatively muted. And, as many reporters pointed out, there were plenty of administrative failings to blame for Hyderabad incidents,
beyond just the dog policies.

The first of the dog attacks that incited Hyderabad came on March 28.

"Eight-month-old baby boy Ritesh was taken to the Dhobighat," a tributary of the River Musi, "where his parents washed clothes," recounted Radhika Iyer of NDTV. "Residents say the riverside has
virtually become a garbage dump," due to deficient local trash collection, "that attracts dogs."

"The dog was eating garbage, then took away my baby," said the victim's mother. "He was conscious when I found him. He drank milk. The doctors gave him oxygen, but his heart stopped."

"The question is," asked Tejeswi Pratima and Uma Sudhir of NDTV, "who killed Baby Ritesh, a stray canine or an insensitive public health system? An official inquiry has now been ordered to find out why the baby had to be rushed from one hospital to another and was denied what could have been life-saving treatment."

Ritesh's mother Mira took him to four hospitals in four hours, visiting two of them twice, before Ritesh succumbed to his wounds. Each hospital referred them to another. Only two of the hospitals provided any actual help.

Observed Blue Cross of India chair Chinny Krishna, "Once again," as with all three of the fatal dog attacks in greater Bangalore in early 2007, "this happened in a an area without Animal Birth Control. The Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad two years ago stopped the successful ABC program carried out by the Blue Cross of Hyderabad and People for Animals, saying they would do it themselves. Close to 20,000 dogs were caught in the last two years and less than 1,500 were fixed, as per municipal records. The Blue Cross of Hyderabad meanwhile began to do Animal Birth Control in housing societies, with their usual dedication and great cooperation from the residents."

The Blue Cross of Hyderabad, headed by former actress Amala Akkineni, was formed in emulation of the Blue Cross of India, but as with other societies using the Blue Cross name, they are not affiliated.
The next sensational attack came on April 9, when 12 dogs bit 10 young women who were waiting to take exams at Osmania University's Women's College in Koti.

Chief veterinary officer P. Venkateshwar Reddy sent 30 dog catchers and two vehicles to the scene, where they captured 21 dogs and found the remains of two of the alleged biters, who had been beaten to death by university staff.

More than 100 dogs were removed from the Osmania University grounds during the next few days, while politicians paraded through to proclaim their outrage.

Sterilization and vaccination "will not solve the problem," fulminated Karnataka State Human Rights Commission chair Justice B. Subhashan Reddy, pledging to seek changes in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to expedite killing dogs.

"There is no way that animal welfare can be superior to human welfare. When human rights and animal rights are in contention, human rights will have to take precedence," asserted Justice Reddy.
But chief veterinary officer Reddy told The Hindu that some of the women's dormitory residents "wanted us to give them some friendly dogs to serve as their guards. That food is given to dogs inside the college is a well-known fact," Reddy said.

Osmania University women's dormitory residents had already complained before the dog attacks about a lack of clean water, bad food, and inadequate overnight security.

Yet another dog attack of note came on April 17, when just one dog bit nine people including five children in an overnight 12-hour rampage through two neighboring apartment blocks in Trimulgherry, a residential suburb. Locals beat the dog to death before police belatedly responded.

Hyderabad and nearby Secundarabad, often identified as "twin cities," have between them more than 100,000 street dogs plus about 11,000 free-roaming pet dogs, said The Hindu.

Reported dog bites have soared since the municipal corporation took over the ABC programs, climbing 23% in 2006 alone, when 53,437 people sought rabies post-exposure vaccination. Human
rabies deaths have increased 68%, from 164 to 241.

Dangerous dog complaints to the municipal corporation doubled to 40 a day after the Osmania University rampage, chief veterinary officer Reddy told The Hindu, noting that many of the calls came from beyond the city limits.

"The city did intervene and sent its dog squad to a 1,000-acre defence facility following a distress call," the day after the Osmania University attacks, "but it is clear that they do not have the men, machinery or mandate to tackle the dog menace throughout greater Hyderabad," The Hindu said. Hyderabad reportely has 60 dogcatchers, but only five vehicles outfitted to haul dogs.

"We are already undertaking special drives," emphasizing capturing dogs in slum areas, "and our men are putting in extra hours," said Reddy.

Ordering staff to capture roving pigs and cattle, as well as dogs, and to prevent illegal animal slaughter, Reddy "indicated that his veterinary staff was facing resistance from anti-social elements and also a few locals," The Hindu noted. "Therefore, he sought protection" for his staff, from "at least three armed police personnel."

A conflicting report about who was at risk in greater Hyderabad came from Saroornagar resident Meenu Dastoor, a realtor, who alleged that dogcatchers killed his pet dog Gowri and were interrupted in the act of preparing to kill another of his dogs, Tommy, after the two of them bolted from his house.

Dastoor told media that municipal workers beat him, his sister, and his brother when they went to the municipal commissioner's office to complain about the incident.

Alleged Dastoor, "There were over 50 workers, including women, and they beat the three of us and locked us in a room. Finally the police let us out."

Dastoor said that both his brother and sister suffered fractures.

Saroornagar sanitation inspector K. Koteshwar Rao reportedly denied that dogcatchers killed Gowri, and claimed that Dastoor assaulted workers after being told not to litter.

Like Bangalore, Hyderabad turned eventually to "the Ahmedabad model," contracting with the Animal Help Foundation to do mobile Animal Birth Control in outlying areas. A three-month visit by one of the Animal Help surgical teams is expected to double the local rate of sterilization surgery to more than 3,000 dogs a month.