Stray Dogs kill Bangalore child

[Saddle Bronc 124]

BBC link

Stray dogs 'kill another child'

By Habib Beary

BBC News, Bangalore

Stray dogs have killed a three-year-old boy in India's hi-tech capital of Bangalore, police say.

The death led to protests by irate residents over what they say is the failure of the civic authorities to control an estimated 70,000 strays.

Police said that the boy was bitten by a pack of dogs near his home in a suburb in the eastern part of the city late on Wednesday night.

It is the second child death blamed on stray dogs in the city recently.

Population mushroom

The boy's parents said that he died before they could get him to hospital.

"It is very unfortunate. It is bad for Bangalore's image," said Karnataka state Health Minister R Ashok.

Mr Ashok was mobbed by protesting residents after the incident, along with Bangalore Corporation Commissioner K Jairaj.

The residents were demonstrating to demand a cull of stray dogs, whose population they say has mushroomed in recent years.

They demanded the closure of illegal mutton and chicken shops which they say attracts packs of dogs looking for left-over meat.

The shops have been accused of dumping waste meat onto the streets.

This is the second reported killing by stray dogs in the same neighbourhood in less than two months.

In the first incident, an eight-year-old girl, Sridevi, was killed in what several witnesses said was "an horrific and ghastly mauling".

She was allegedly dragged nearly 20 metres in December by a pack of stray dogs before being savagely mauled to death.

'Knee-jerk reaction'

A fortnight ago, another child was attacked but escaped with injuries.

Mr Jairaj said that mobile squads have now been set up "to crackdown" on illegal mutton and chicken shops in and around Bangalore.

Civic authorities had earlier ordered a cull of all diseased strays, but the campaign was opposed by animal activists.

"There are so many other things that the municipal authorities should look after," said Dilip Bafna, a trustee of the Animal Rights Fund.

"No stern action has been taken against illegal meat shops. They dump waste on the roads, while people litter the roads and then complain about stray dogs," he said.

In a letter to the state government, former High Court judge MF Saldanha said that the culling of dogs was a "knee-jerk reaction".

He called for the stepping-up of an anti-rabies vaccine initiated by the local civic agencies.

Note: While the meat shops are contributory (yes, they do dump rubbish into the streets), Bafna did hit the problem obliquely on the nail "people litter the roads" (hello, lots more rubbish than just the meat-shops). But the fact that Bafna still blamed the meat-shops specifically rather than the general Indian (including, likely, his own) lack of civic sense shows that these "animal activists" are CF's!

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I would be killing some dogs.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

LS, had-been model Maneka Gandhi made "stray dogs rights" her raison-d-etre.

She got voted ONCE into Lok Sabha (by running against an incumbent who had become unpopular due to multitude of factors--including that Ayodhya was being fanned as a big issue at the time), but her acidic tongue (as well as her regular takeup of such CF causes) basically alienated her further (she never had any rapport in the first place, being of a well-to-do family and then being married to former PM Indira Gandhi's son) from the majority.

No doubt in this case, stray-dog cull is about 30 years overdue!

[Ban Hammer 14,443]

LS, had-been model Maneka Gandhi made "stray dogs rights" her raison-d-etre.

She got voted ONCE into Lok Sabha (by running against an incumbent who had become unpopular due to multitude of factors--including that Ayodhya was being fanned as a big issue at the time), but her acidic tongue (as well as her regular takeup of such CF causes) basically alienated her further (she never had any rapport in the first place, being of a well-to-do family and then being married to former PM Indira Gandhi's son) from the majority.

No doubt in this case, stray-dog cull is about 30 years overdue!

12 gauge with #7 1/2 would fix this problem real quick.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

stray dog rights? India is a fascinating place.

[Mags 112]

Okay, so the place is over run with stray dogs and better control should be implemented. But, these dogs were just looking for food in a city where the competition for food is great. The dogs were just surviving...

[bucknekkid 0]

Okay, so the place is over run with stray dogs and better control should be implemented. But, these dogs were just looking for food in a city where the competition for food is great. The dogs were just surviving...

Dogs 2

Children 0

[Niels Bohr 72]

Residents of the US care more about animals than do humans. Over in another country, it's just the opposite.

[Mags 112]

Residents of the US care more about animals than do humans. Over in another country, it's just the opposite.

Well, in my opinion, there isn't that much to respect in humans at the moment.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Okay, so the place is over run with stray dogs and better control should be implemented. But, these dogs were just looking for food in a city where the competition for food is great. The dogs were just surviving...

Let them eat your children to survive. Not mine.

[Mags 112]

Okay, so the place is over run with stray dogs and better control should be implemented. But, these dogs were just looking for food in a city where the competition for food is great. The dogs were just surviving...

Let them eat your children to survive. Not mine.

Well no. But it isn't the dogs' fault for eating the children. It is the authorities' fault for letting the city become over run with the dogs.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Okay, so the place is over run with stray dogs and better control should be implemented. But, these dogs were just looking for food in a city where the competition for food is great. The dogs were just surviving...

Let them eat your children to survive. Not mine.

Well no. But it isn't the dogs' fault for eating the children. It is the authorities' fault for letting the city become over run with the dogs.

Partly true. The lack of garbage collection in the city IS the fault of the civic administration.

Unfortunately, the lack of civic sense is apparent in Indian cities.

Edited March 1, 2007 by CherryXS

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

If 2 children were killed by dogs in my neighborhood and the government did nothing there would be a pile of decomposing dog corpses for them to deal with.

[Mags 112]

Unfortunately, the lack of civic sense is apparent in Indian cities.

If that's so, then they can hardly complain when their children get eaten.

[ladybutterfly 0]

The dogs needed to eat at the end of the day. If the authorities for the city do nothing about the dogs what choice do the dogs have, its not their fault they need to eat!