M HYDERI
Srinagar, Sep 27: With the coalition-government failing to tackle dog menace in the City, which hosts over one lakh stray packs, the dog bite cases have reached a record high this year with mere five months of 2011 witnessing at-least 2250 cases, a figure higher than the previous years.  The actual dog bite cases in Srinagar, however, could be even higher as this statistics pertains to the cases administered at SMHS hospital alone.
 This means that on an average at-least some 15 people are bitten by dogs, everyday in the City. Not only this, the deadly cases have been showing a regular upward trend when the last five years of records are compared.

THE FIGURES
The annual calculation of the dog bite cases is done on the lines of the fiscal calendar, which starts from April 1 to March 31. This way, since April upto August this year 2250 dog bite cases were reported while in the entire previous year the figure was 2074.
 Official sources at Anti Rabies Clinic at SMHS Hospital said that there has been an upward trend in the bite cases. While in 2007, 1449 cases were registered, the figure was 1792 in 2008. Likewise in 2009, 1996 cases were registered whereas in 2010 the figure touched 2074 mark. For 2011, the figure has already reached a record of 2250 cases till August.

‘EVERY DOG MATTERS’
 While the dog bite cases vis-à-vis canine population has been on an alarming increase, the National Conference led government remained reluctant to get rid of the menace through no other means other than the Rs multi crore Animal Birth Control plan.
 The government seemingly remained so concerned towards the dogs than the humans that few months back when a New Delhi based channel claimed some stray packs had been killed in Srinagar, a high level probe was ordered into the matter.
 This was despite the fact that the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) claims to have given up the dog poisoning several years ago. Since then the civic body had been sterile in tackling the dog menace till the start of 2011 when there came a slight change.
 In February this year, the then Divisional Commissioner Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon had volunteered to constitute a dog committee, which would look into means of getting rid of the dog menace. Following a surge in the dog attacks and killing of three persons in a short span of time, the Divisional Commissioner, had even issued shoot-at-sight orders, allowing police to kill the dogs found rabid. But the orders were withdrawn within ours presumably because the government top brass wasn’t willing to get even a single stray dog killed.
 Many alleged that it was because a dog killed would “affect the business prospects of sterilization of dogs”, a rupees multi-crore project.

HC INTERVENTION
 Finally, in May this year, the state High Court intervened in the matter in response to a PIL filed by an NGO. The Court directed the authorities to make City dog free by confining them to pounds, which were scheduled to be constructed at Khimber in Ganderbal. 
 But following local resentment, the work was taken up at SK University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Shumama, where a pound is coming up.

THE MILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS
 But the confinement of dogs at the pounds is to cost a fortune as estimated around Rs 1000 crore will be required for the “rehabilitation of the stray packs”.
 
PUBLIC MONEY GOES TO DOGS
 For now the public money has literally started going to stray dogs as the government is spending around Rs one crore on the Shuhama pound construction out of the money meant for City Development like construction of drains. Ironically the SMC Commissioner Shekikh Mushtaq says there was no option but to spend public money on the pounds, where the dogs are schedule to be sterilized.
 
THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION
  Interestingly in one of the hearings, Chief Justice FM Ibraheem Kalifullah had posed a million dollar question which nobody could reply:  Will a dog stop biting after sterilization?

THE BITING FIGURES 

YEAR                                    NO OF CASES
2007                                                  1449
2008                                                  1792
2009                                                  1996
2010                                                   2074
April –Aug 2011                                 2250

(Source: Anti Rabies Clinic SHMS)

Lastupdate on : Tue, 27 Sep 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 27 Sep 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:00:00 IST