Barking dogs seldom bite. Now always, challenge Nanjundapuram Road Residents. In the recent past the residents have been witness to two incidents of street dogs troubling passers by.
In the first incident, J. Sai Deepesh, a Standard VIII student of a private school and a resident of Sakthi Nagar, Ramanathapuram, suffered bruises after he fell of his bicycle while trying to flee from a pack of dogs on the Nanjundapuram Road.
The boy got the “scare of his life” around 6.30 p.m. a few days ago when he was returning home after tuition. “A group of dogs chased me. Even as I tried to pedal harder, one from the group managed to reach up to the rear of the bicycle and bit the rear wheel. Unable to balance, I fell of the bicycle and suffered bruises,” the boy recalled.
After falling the boy said he did not look back as he had to scurry for safety. “I ran off to a lane where a group of men were standing. I had to seek their help to retrieve the bicycle as five dogs were waiting near the bicycle.”
This was not the first time Sai Deepesh had encountered the dogs. “I would be scared whenever I cross them to reach home. But never had it been so bad.”
Within 12 hours of the incident, another one occurred in the area. This too was on Nanjundapuram Road. Stray dogs chased milk vendor Murugan who was on his way to deliver milk in the morning. In the process of fleeing from the pack of dogs, he fell of his moped and lost milk packets.
Residents of the area say that dog menace is rampant on Scheme Road, 80 Feet Road, Sowripalayam Road, Thiruvalluvar Nagar, S.N.V. Gardens, A.K.S. Nagar, Gopal Layout and localities that fall under Ward 68, 69 and 75 of the Coimbatore Corporation.
They say they have taken up the issue with the Coimbatore Corporation to no avail. G. Premanand, a resident of a gated community on Nanjundapuram Road, says that that for the past six months, the residents have been knocking on the Corporation’s doors but nothing much has come through.
The councillors representing the localities also have the same grievance to narrate. They have raised the issue in the Council but only promises came through.
The Corporation is aware of the issue. It is, however, not satisfied with the actions of the people in-charge of performing animal birth control operations and taking care of the canines, says S. Thamarai Selvi, Chairperson, Corporation Committee of Health.
Corporation officials say they are working on starting work on and completing at the earliest the dog shelter that was proposed in Vellalore in the 2012-13 Budget.
