Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Mar 2: The number of street dogs on the city streets is increasing. It has come to light, albeit with delay, that a person was bitten by a rabid dog last week at Doddanagudde. The issue was discussed at the municipality general session and the municipal councillors had taken the officials to task for their failure to control the dog menace.

It is common to see groups of dogs following people in Ajjarkad park area. It is learnt that dogs have bitten and injured some senior citizens in Kinnimulky in the city. The street dogs are more active in areas like Mission Compound, Bhujanga Park, Ajjarkad, Chitpady circle, Bannanje, city bus stand, service bus stand, K M Marg, Kinnimulky and Gundibail. At night, droves of dogs can be seen moving around. They also fight among themselves and bark incessantly at night, creating disturbances for the people. They often take away footwear of the people or tear off clothes laid out for drying.

Even though the dogs are neutered, the number of dogs in the city is increasing. Officials say that dogs from rural places come to the city searching for food and they give birth to puppies here and thereby contribute to increasing canine population here. President of the municipality, Sumithra Nayak, assured to take steps to control the problems created by street dogs by undertaking birth control operations.