Even as the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation has moved forward with its plan to construct a veterinary super speciality hospital at Poolakkadavu, the alarming rise in the number of dog bite cases has turned out to be a headache for the civic body.
A couple of days ago, stray dogs bit nine people in various parts of the city, one of the victims being a three-year-old who was in her mother’s arms. Stray dogs have literally claimed several public spaces, terrorising people. Recently, they attacked a person who was sitting in the portico of his house. The threat is so much so that walking on streets has become a nightmare even during daytime.
“We are helpless. There is nothing we can do other than organising occasional animal birth control camps,” said P.C. Rajan, chairman of the development standing committee of the corporation.
Two ABC camps
For the record, the civic body organised two ABC camps in a year and sterilised around 300 dogs. But with thousands of them roaming around, 300 is a paltry number. The camps were organised in association with Kerala Animal and Veterinary Sciences University, with their mobile operation theatre and expert surgeons having been deployed. However, the camps were put off several times owing to absence of facilities. “We have enough trained surgeons but no infrastructure,” Mr. Rajan added.
“The proposed super speciality hospital will have a permanent ABC centre, which will enable regular sterilisation surgeries,” Mr. Rajan added.
