Alert in dist as attacks spread to bigger area

LUCKNOW: The district administration has sounded an alert across the district about attacks by killer dogs as the incidents reported on Friday and Saturday took place at a distance of 18- 20 km from the previous ones. This is an indication that not only the terror of feral canines but their attacks too are gradually spreading across Sitapur district.

Ayub Khan, a resident of Khairabad’s Tikra village, said for the past six months, the dog menace was confined to the thickets of Khairabad villages within a radius of 7-8 km but the frequency had increased in the past five days. He said although the dogcatchers trapped over two dozen dogs from Khairabad villages, the move failed to curb the menace. He said no incident was reported in Khairabad since Tuesday but then the attacks started in other far away villages. Sharad, another resident of Khairabad town area, said the series of dogs attacks reported since Tuesday suggested that the same pack of dogs was attacking kids , as 6-7 dogs were seen in every incident.

He said three children were killed in Khairabad on Tuesday, two children were attacked in the same area on Wednesday and then four children were attacked in villages nearly 18 km from the others. After that, an incident was reported in a Talgaon village, 20 km from the other affected villages . “The pattern suggests that the same pack of dogs is moving, in a specific northeast direction,” he emphasised.

However, principal scientist of IVRI Bareilly, Dr Abhijeet Pawde said dogs generally moved in a territory of 14-15 kilometres and did not go beyond it. He apprehended the probability of more dogs getting violent in the region due to rise in temperature.