Dog mauls three junior students outside school in Ghaziabad

A stray dog mauled three students of the junior wing of Bal Bharti Public School in Brij Vihar, Ghaziabad, on Thursday afternoon.

Members of the People for Animals (PFA) said they had picked up the stray dog and suspect it was suffering from rabies. It would be caged for a couple of days.

The incident took place outside the school premises when the students were heading towards their transport vans after school.

All three students are aged five to seven years.

“The dog attacked the three students and mauled them severely. We sent them for medical aid and informed their parents. We approached police and sought their help to get the dog removed with the help of PFA activists. The incident took place outside the school premises. There have been similar complaints about stray dogs in the area. It is up to the municipal corporation to tackle the issue,” said Arvind Bhatia, school principal.

The injured students were rushed to a hospital in Vaishali from where they were taken to a hospital in East Delhi.

“The three children were given medical aid and are under treatment. They suffered major injuries,” said the mother of an injured student who did not wish to be named.

CP Singh, Ghaziabad municipal commissioner, said, “We will seek immediate help from PFA and sterilise stray dogs in the area.”

“We suspect that the dog suffer from rabies. We have put the animal in a cage. Such dogs chew up anything and have a lot of saliva. The dog has shown the same signs,” said Sumedha Iyer from PFA society, Ghaziabad.

According to official records available with the Ghaziabad municipal corporation, around 2,621 stray dogs were sterilized from February 2013 to July 2016. But the stray dog menace stays.

Various localities in Ghaziabad, including Indirapuram, Vaishali and Vasundhara, have witnessed a number of cases of dog bites.

Residents have often taken up the issue of stray dog menace with the corporation but have failed to yield desired results.