Reacting to criticism after a girl was killed by a truck while escaping a stray dog yesterday, the civic body blames activists for obstructing stray roundup drives in city u00a0 Unable to cope with the criticism coming in from all quarters related to stray dog attacks, the civic body's animal husbandry department has made a shocking claim that animal lovers are to blame for the delay in sterilisation and culling of strays in the city. <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2011/jul/dog.jpg" border="5" /> Puppy power: People adopted several street dogs during the monthly Puppy Adoption Camp, which was organised by Let's Live Together, a city-based NGO, at Sankey Tank Road yesterday. Pic/Satish Badiger Claiming to have spent a vast amount on sterilisation drives in 2011, Dr Parvez Ahmed Peeran, joint director of the animal husbandry department, has expressed helplessness. "We have spent Rs 3.42 crore on sterilisation of around 70,000 dogs and vaccination ofu00a0 over 1.16 lakh strays. However, we have still not achieved the desired results. Whenever our dog catching vehicles approach an area from where complaints have come in, animal activists stage protests and force us to leave," Ahmed said. The department has drawn much flak for two back-to-back stray dog attacks leading to deaths in the city. Two-and-a-half year old Sandeep from Yelahanka was reportedly mauled to death on Friday morning, while 4-year-old Kajol, a resident of Uttarahalli, survived the attack. All failures A survey conducted by the department in the year 2003-04 revealed that 32,000 dog bites were registered. Post this report, the department adopted several animal birth control measures put forth by the Supreme Court, following which 20,000 dog bites were reported in 2010-2011, including pet dog bites. Twenty deaths due to rabid dog bites were reported in 200-02 and in 2010, one death was reported in this category. "The BBMP animal husbandry department will extend a sterilisation programme, under which more than 1 lakh dogs will be sterilized. But this would not be possible without co-operation from animal lovers. We want to cull habitual biters, chasers, ferocious and incurably diseased dogs, for which we are awaiting a verdict," Peeran added. Conflicting view Animal lovers however have slammed the BBMP for blaming them. Pramod, an animal lover who has adopted 40 strays, which he keeps in his quarter acre plot said, "The idea of culling stray dogs is immature. How will the BBMP identify rabid dogs amongst 2 lakh strays in the city? They should instead allot land in different zones where these dogs can be housed." Suggesting that the BBMP invest in such a project instead of investing on dead initiatives, animal lovers across the city have come together in protest. Meanwhile, the department has claimed that it is impossible to get results on the Animal Birth Control program in just 6-12 months. It now remains to be seen if the BBMP will be able to eradicate the problem effectively. Girl escapes stray dog, dies under truck In a tragic chain of events, a 10-year-old girl was crushed to death by a concrete mixer truck while she was trying to escape the jaws of a stray dog yesterday. The incident was reported on Haralur Main Road near Bellandur Gate in Madivala traffic police station limits. According to M Ayappa and Mallappau00a0parents of the victim Manjamma both construction workers from Bellary, their daughter was buying groceries when the stray attacked. She started running in an effort to avoid being bitten and failed to notice the concrete mixer vehicle approaching from the opposite direction. The speeding vehicle knocked her down before running over her resulting in an instantaneous death. The truck driver abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene fearing public wrath, police said.

Reacting to criticism after a girl was killed by a truck while escaping a stray dog yesterday, the civic body blames activists for obstructing stray roundup drives in city

Animal lovers to blame for stray dog menace: BBMP

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Animal lovers to blame for stray dog menace: BBMP

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