A 10-year-boy was mauled to death while another was injured by feral dogs on Saturday in separate incidents, the latest in a series of attacks that have claimed lives of six kids in five days and left this district terrorised, officials said on Sunday.
Such is the fear prevalent here that school attendance has dipped, police are doing extra patrolling, while men go to orchards and fields armed with rods and axes.
On Saturday, Qasim was grazing his goats when a pack of strays attacked him. He did not survive, a Taalgaon police station official said.
Not far away in Biharipur village, another boy, Irfan, was brutally mauled in a similar attack, the official added.
“Since November 2017, 12 children have fallen prey to dogs while six have been injured,” District Magistrate Sheetal Verma said.
U.P. Minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who visited here on Saturday, said financial aid will be provided to affected families. Concrete measures will be adopted to counter the menace and every community health centre in the area will be equipped with adequate vaccines and medicines, Ms. Joshi said.
Shortage of food
The spate of attacks is challenging the experts, of whom some believe shortage of food, especially after the crackdown on illegal abattoirs, to be a reason for the canine aggression.
On May 1, three children were mauled to death by dogs in villages of Khairabad area after which the district administration called a dog-catching team from Mathura to deal with the menace, officials said.
On May 4, two more children were mauled to death and as many injured by packs of stray dogs in the district, police said.
Director of Bareilly-based Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) RK Singh said: “Earlier when the abattoirs were operational, the dogs used to get food in form of leftovers. But, with the closure of the abattoirs, there was a shortage of food for the dogs.”
The attacks have led to a sharp drop in attendance in schools.
