33 cases of dog bites in four days in Hisar

Out of these 33 cases, 18 were bitten by pet dogs and 15 by stray dogs

The cases of dog bites are on the rise in Hisar with 33 cases reported in the past four days from the district.

HT Image

“Out of these 33 cases, 18 were bitten by pet dogs and 15 by stray dogs. Luckily, there is no shortage of anti-rabies injections in the hospital,” said Dr Jaya Goel, senior medical officer and in-charge of district malaria control, civil hospital, Hisar.

In most of the cases, small children were bitten by dogs while playing with them.

DS Sindhu, deputy director, animal husbandry department, Hisar, said, “We have written to the civic body for registering the dogs so that we can know about exact number of dogs in the district. We are yet to hear from the state or central government about dog sterilisation programme to contain the menace.”

He said in 2016, the Centre had launched a programme under the banner of National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP). The government handed over the charge to an NGO, which sterilised 23,000 stray dogs in Hisar and Fatehabad districts.

“NRCP was halted midway due to paucity of funds. According to 2019 livestock census, there are 33,800 stray dogs in Hisar. We feel that anti-rabies drives should be carried out on year-to-year basis. The department can only control rabies and sterilisation is the only way to control dog population,” DS Sindhu added.

Hisar Municipal Corporation chief sanitation inspector (CSI) Subhash Saini said, “We have received a letter from the animal husbandry department and have forwarded it to higher authorities seeking fund for controlling the menace.”