Despite the concern expressed by the Supreme Court over the spree of stray dog attacks in Kerala, the canines continued tormenting the people without any restraint as Sunday alone accounted for more than a dozen dog bites from different parts of the State. Two bike riders who fell down from their vehicles following attacks by stray dogs succumbed to their injuries on Sunday.
M B Rajesh, who was sworn in as local administration minister last week following the resignation of M V Govindan on his appointment as CPI(M) secretary, told reporters at Kozhikode on Sunday that the animal birth control program in the State has gone haywire. There should be at least 150 ABC centres in the State to sterilize the stary /street dogs. We have called for a meeting on Monday at Thiruvananthapuram,” said Rajesh.
The Minister’s statement is an indirect admission that all was not well with the local administration department and the health department in the State. Veen George, the Health Minister had denied in the legislative assembly that everything was perfect in the health department and the concerns over the dog bites were the creation of the media.
Till last week of August 21 persons succumbed to rabies which they contacted from dog bites, according to the department of health. Nearly 2 lakh persons were bitten by dogs over the last eight months, says the department of health statistics. The Supreme Court which heard a petition filed by concerned citizens has said that it would pronounce the interim judgment on September 28.