Srinagar, Apr 25: With no let up in dog attacks in this summer capital, around a dozen odd people including a three-year-old boy and his mother were mauled Wednesday while the government continued to keep mum over the menacing issue.

THE TINY VICTIM
 Three-year-old Rohan Preet Singh son of Charanjeet Singh was mauled by street dogs right outside his Rambagh residence  in south City when the mother-son duo were standing there.
 Rohan had just arrived home from Little Tiny Hearts school when the dogs mauled him.
 His mother Popinder Kaur who was wounded while trying to rescue her son said a dog had bitten her son so deep that the animal wasn’t leaving his flesh.
 “I tried to chase away the dog but the beast held my son tight in teeth till I managed to rescue and got mauled in doing so,” she said while being treated at SMHS Hospital while her husband Charanjeet Singh, consoled the mauled duo.
 While the mother shouted in pain, cries of little Rohan went much louder and many attendants turned emotional against the deadly dogs and the government silence.

THE KILLING ARGUMENT
 “If humans can be fired upon in the name of maintenance of law and order what prevents the government from getting these deadly dogs killed?” argued a doctor as he tried to console the dog bite victims.

OTHER VICTIMS
 While Rohan was crying, a teenage girl from Madin Sahib area, whose clothes were drenched in blood, was rushed in for treatment.
 This victim, Azan Ali daughter of Ali Muhammad Rather of Baghwan Pora in north City was attacked while heading for tuition.
 “I was walking with my friend (Mehrun Nissa) when a dog jumped on me from behind and I fell on the ground,” Azan, a class 12th student recapped crying in pain.
 “Though Mehrun Nissa tried to chase away the dog by hitting him with schoolbag, the dog kept biting me,” she narrated adding that the canine fled only when some people came running to rescue her.
 17-year-old Haider Ali was also bitten in the same area and had a similar tale to narrate.

STORY TILL NOW
 The only achievement of government in tackling dog menace till now has been that in the past around two months, since Dr GN Qasba took over as SMC Commissioner, the construction of dog pounds at Shuhama was geared up and completed, making the place “ready for canine sterilization.” The SMC plans to start the sterilization from the coming month.
 Though the government looks at the dog sterilization as the sole remedy to the problem, experts are apprehensive of its results. They say by the time 40 dogs will be sterilized, 400 more will take birth.
 But a million dollar question posed last year by then Chief Justice FM Ibraheem Kalif Ullah remains unanswered: Will a dog stop biting after sterilization?

‘I HAD COMPLAINED OF DOG POISONING’
Finally, breaking his prolonged silence over the dog menace, prominent political analyst, writer and “animal rights activist” , Javed Iqbal Shah Wednesday said he acted the whistleblower last year to claim that dogs in Srinagar were being poisoned.
 His allegation was given space by a New Delhi based news channel while the National Conference led government ordered a high level probe into the “violation of dog rights”. A committee comprising senior officials was formulated to probe the matter.
 But if officials at Srinagar Municipal Corporation are to be believed the allegations couldn’t be found true.
 Javed Iqbal Shah is understood to be having some strained relations with a leading animal rights organization in the country which prompted him to make the poisoning revelation.
Greater Kashmir will come up with a comprehensive story on the issue.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 IST