Mayor says 4 lakh out of 5.7 lakh stray dogs in Hyd sterilised, terms boy’s killing unfortunate

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi, who held an emergency meeting with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials, responded to the unfortunate death of a four-year-old boy after being mauled by street dogs in Amberpet.

She termed it as a very painful incident while claiming that four lakh dogs out of a total of 5.7 lakh present in the city were already sterilised through birth control procedures.

The Mayor said that 30 teams had been functioning in 30 circles under the Greater Hyderabad limits to catch stray dogs. Stating that the canines would still bite even after sterilisation, Vijayalakshmi said that the GHMC would bring about awareness among the public to adopt the stray dogs. On the other hand, the GHMC would take all measures to feed them properly, she said.

The Hyderabad mayor also sought refuge behind the humanitarian aspect and the existing Supreme Court guidelines on the issue of taking extreme measures to reduce the menacing stray dog population.

Mayor orders inquiry into Amberpet incident

During the emergency meeting, the Mayor ordered the officials to conduct an inquiry into the incident immediately while stating that necessary support and succour was being extended to the family of the boy, killed in the incident.

She said that every circle had been provided with animal birth control and anti-rabies injections to avoid the recurrence of such incidents. All necessary measures were being initiated from time to time in response to dog bite complaints being received by the Corporation, she added. For this purpose, every circle has been allotted one dog pickup vehicle with two officials deputed to supervise the activity. Efforts are also being made to ensure the well-being of the stray dogs during the ensuing summer, the mayor said.

Referring to the sterilisation of the street dogs, Gadwal Vijayalakshmi said that the process was being perennially carried out in the city in collaboration with five voluntary organisations. As regards the Amberpet incident, the veterinary department officials informed the mayor that 33 stray dogs were already picked up and sent to the animal care centre in Mahadevpur for sterilisation, anti-rabies vaccination and observation.

While 50,091 street dogs were sterilised in 202--21, 73,601 canines were sterilised in 2021-22 whereas this number stood at 40,155 in 2022-23, the officials told the mayor during the emergency meeting.

GHMC Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Abdul Vakil, Corporation Central Zone Deputy Director Chakrapani Reddy, Secunderabad Zone Assistant Director Sadguna, Veterinary Officer Bikya Banawat and Amberpet Deputy Commissioner Venugopal participated in the emergency meeting.