MCD let the mad dog out

Residents of Mukherjee Nagar continue to live in terror as the MCD releases a 'sick' dog back in the area after sterilising the animal. People claim it is against the norms

MCD let the mad dog out

Residents of Mukherjee Nagar continue to live in terror as the MCD releases a 'sick' dog back in the area after sterilising the animal. People claim it is against the norms

A sterile dog does not bite anyone.

Following this theory, the civic body has released a stray dog on the streets of Mukherjee Nagar after it was picked up for sterilisation. Though the procedure does take away some of the aggression in the animal, it is not considered a sure shot way to calm down a canine completely.

Parth Wadhwa, 17, has stopped going to take tuitions after he was bitten by the stray dog. Five people have fallen victim to the sharp teeth of the animal within a span of four days.

"The dog bit me on my stomach, right thigh and on the foot. I was taken to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. Now, I have to go to the Rajan Babu Hospital for taking anti-rabies serum injections," said Wadhwa.

"The situation is back to square one. According to norms if a dog is sick it cannot be sent back to the locality from where it was picked up after being sterilised," said PL Mehta, 75, a resident of the area.

The MCD has outsourced the sterlisation programme to various NGOs. "NGOs pick up dogs and leave the animals in the same area after sterlising them," said MCD standing committee chairman Vijender Gupta. "If the dog was sick it should not have been released in the locality again," Gupta told MiD DAY.

The large number of street dogs and their rapid growth rate in Delhi, especially in east Delhi, which will be the centre of the Commonwealth Games in 2010, might pose a problem during the mega event.

"There are about two-and- half-lakh street dogs in east Delhi alone. Before the Commonwealth Games, the MCD will be left with no option but to kill them if it fails to sterilise them all," said a representative of the Society for the Stay Canine Birth Control.

There are no estimates available to suggest the total number of stray dogs in the Capital. A census that was being done by the Aligarh Muslim University is not yet complete.

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