VASCO
Cases of dog bites in and around Vasco have been on the rise and the Chicalim Sub District hospital now receives nearly 80-100 cases every month.
Medical Superintendent and Health Officer of Chicalim Sub District Hospital Dr Anil Umraskar said he has been analysing data over the last few months.
“We have seen that in our casualty and OPD, we have around 80-100 cases of dog bites every month. We have sufficient stock of vaccines for treatment of dog bites, of which one is given immediately and the other 5 doses are given in a scheduled pattern and gap of a few days,” said Dr Umraskar.
To a query on ways to being down these cases, Dr Umraskar said: “It is up to respective authorities to take care of stray dog population or offer them shelter and sterilise them to keep a tab on their population.”
Alarmed over the high number of dog bites in the port town, residents have now appealed to authorities to tackle the rising population of stray dogs and to act against some meat shop owners feeding stray dogs with chicken waste and raw meat.
Speaking to reporters, Vasco Congress leader and former Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) chairperson Nandadeep Raut said he had personally seen some people feeding stray dogs with chicken waste.
“I am a dog lover but there are some people who feed stray dogs with raw meat and chicken waste and I know of a person who has been doing it on a regular basis and one councillor had even filed a case against him.”
“Stray dogs are used to eating raw meat and if they do not get raw meat, get aggressive and attack people. I have witnessed a stray dog attacking a person and with a rise in dog bites, it is time that authorities take action,” said Raut.
Social activist Preetam Queloscar said people must instead offer cooked food to stray dogs.
“We appeal to people to offer cooked food or at least boil the meat before offering it to stray dogs,” said Queloscar.
