Stray Dog Attacks, Bites And Injures 7 Pedestrians

A stray dog went on a biting spree in the Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram and injured seven people.

On Tuesday morning, the dog attacked pedestrians at Killipalam and also chased after other dogs and bit them. The injured people were taken to General Hospital and the anti-rabies vaccine was administered.

A dump of waste in the neighborhood is responsible for attracting stray dogs, said the ward councilors.

A narrow road in the area had conveniently turned into a landfill of meat waste. The dogs have been hunting the pile for food, Karamana Ajith, the councilor of Karamana ward, said. The city Corporation's animal birth control team seized as many as five stray dogs from the area after Tuesday's incident. However, the officials said that the dog which attacked the pedestrians was not captured by the team.

More dog bites were also reported from Karaman, Chalai, Chakka and Chellamangalam neighborhoods on the same day.

It was only in last month that a stray dog bit 31 people in Kolhapur, Maharashtra in the areas of Venus Corner, Shahupuri, Uttareshwar and Phulewadi. The injured comprised 21 men, seven women and three children between eight and 10 years old. They were taken to Chhatrapati Pramila Raje civic hospital and were kept under observation for 24 hours after administering the vaccine. Witnesses recounted that the dog attack caused chaos and the situation was brought under control by police and security personnel, reported The Times of India.

The World Health Organisation's figures state that 18,000-20,000 people die of rabies in India every year, accounting for almost 36% of the worldwide mortality rate. About 30-60% of the total reported rabies cases and deaths reported in India happen to children under the age of 15. Bites suffered by children often tend to go unnoticed and unreported.