Srinagar, May 6: Over two dozen people, mostly women were bitten by rabid dogs Thursday at Hyderpora triggering panic in the south City suburb with many scared of coming out of their houses as the stray pack kept prowling there throughout the day.
 At least nine cases were treated at the Anti Rabies Clinic at SMHS Hospital alone while many others are presumed to have gone for private care.
 Witnesses said some stray dogs on prowl attacked passer-by who ever came their way. The worst scene was a witnessed in the morning at a spot where a group of women was waiting for bus to reach their offices.
 A white dog jumped on the women. Its first victim, as per the witnesses, was the worst target.
 “The dog caught hold of her right thigh and bit her multiple times till she fell on the ground in a pool of blood,” said a witness adding that she was later hospitalized in the intensive care unit at SMHS.
 But before the other women would react, the dog started biting them.
 Some people tried to rescue the women but they too fell prey to the canine bites.
 The locals complained that even though hundreds of dogs prowl in the area, the authorities had failed to check the menace.
 The Anti Rabies Clinic Head at SMHS, Dr Muhammad Yusuf confirmed that nine of the wounded were treated there.
 “One of them, a woman with wounded right thigh had multiple wounds,” Dr Yusuf said.
 Pertinently, with the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) failing to check the dog population of over one lakh and growing canines in the City, the dog bite cases past month reached a record high.
 Some 4,400 dog bites cases were registered with the SMHS clinic during 2009-10 crossing the previous records of five years.
 For the past three years the SMC admits that the stray dog population has reached alarming proportions with over one lakh and growing dogs prowling in the City. Still, the corporation has failed to act.
 Since 2008, the SMC has given up the dog poisoning. For now it plans to opt for sterilization of the stray pack. But the canine sterilization, as per the observers, couldn’t be of much benefit due to its slow execution.
 Experts fear the dog population if kept checked could trigger fear psychosis among people.
 “The dog issue needs to be dealt with seriously or else by four years dogs may not only outnumber Srinagarites, they can victimize ever one of us,” Dr Muhammad Salim Khan, Member, Association for Prevention & Control of Rabies in India recently warned at a function.
 As about the rabid dogs at Hyderpora they kept prowling in the area till evening when reports last poured in.
 Despite repeated attempts the SMC officials couldn’t be contacted.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 6 May 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 6 May 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 7 May 2010 00:00:00 IST