Stray Dogs Maul, Drag 2-Year-Old To Death

A pack of stray dogs in the Indian state of Telangana mauled a 2-year-old boy, resulting in the child's death.

The attack on the boy, identified as Anas Ahmed, occurred outside his grandmother’s house located along Bada Bazar Street in the city of Hyderabad at around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Indian newspaper The Hindu reported.

The animals dragged Ahmed during the attack, surveillance footage captured by one of the area’s residents showed. They took the child to a nearby military area, as per the Times of India.

Ahmed’s parents reportedly chased the dogs away after hearing his screams, and he was then rushed to a local government hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

He has since been buried, but dogs have allegedly scratched his grave.

Similar dog attacks happened in Hyderabad in the past, with an attack on a 6-year-old girl back in May of last year also resulting in the child's death.

"Even adults are not feeling safe," Shaik Usman, a tourist guide, said.

Around 19 dogs in the Golconda Fort area were captured following the attack on Ahmed, according to K. Chakrapani Reddy, who is the deputy director for the veterinary wing of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the civic body that oversees Hyderabad.

The animals came from a nearby military base through a short compound wall, noted Reddy.

The GHMC has planned to seek permission to carry out an Animal Birth Control (ABC) program in the area under military jurisdiction and create a boundary to prevent animals from trespassing.

Developed by the World Health Organization, the ABC program seeks to control street dog populations and eradicate rabies through measures such as sterilization and vaccination, among other things.

Nearly 90% of the dogs inside Golconda Fort have been treated under the ABC program, a GHMC official said.

India outlawed the killing of dogs in 2001, but there have been several instances where authorities were allowed to cull strays in the years following the ban.

In a similar story, three dogs in Franklin County, Missouri, were euthanized after they mauled their owner's 61-year-old mother late last year.