Plaints on Noida's stray dog menace fall on deaf ears

While the stray animal menace tops the civic woes of residents across the city, residents of Noida also are no stranger to the problem. In fact, they are now claiming that the number of cases of attacks by dog have gone up and despite repeated complaints, the Noida Authority refuses to even acknowledge the scenario.

"We have been continuously holding meetings in the society campus against the nuisance being created by street dogs. We have knocked the doors of the Authority to take this matter seriously. They always take a written statement form us but do not act on it," said AN Dhawan, secretary, Federation of Noida RWAs (FONRWA).

According to the police, they are just helpless as when some residents register a complaint about the nuisance, some dog lovers cross register another FIR.

"Last month, while shopping in Sector 37, my wife had to face a stray dog attack. She fell and broke her arm, and had to be taken for surgery. Ever since, I have been following the issue of sterilisation of street dogs with the Noida Authority, but nothing is really happening on that front," said PR Chandna, RWA secretary of Mecon Apartments in Sector 62.

Currently, according to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, you can get away with being cruel to most animals by paying a fine of anything between Rs 10 and Rs 50 in India. For repeat offenders, the penalty may go up to anything between Rs 25 and Rs 100. You could also be thrown in jail for three months. But that's about it.

"Every sector has about 20 stray dogs. This number should be checked," a resident said.

According to the chief veterinary officer (CVO) of Gautam Budh Nagar, routine sterilisation of stray dogs is very important in all urban and rural areas to control their burgeoning population. Also, it calms them down and prevents them from getting violent with other dogs and humans.

Noida has an estimated 13,600 stray dogs, and the mating season, when they get territorial and aggressive, is from August to December. This has got the animal lovers worried.

On September 26 this year, the Noida Authority appointed Delhi-based Dr Chawla's Pet Hospital for the sterilisation project.

Dr Nischal Chaudhary, a vet at the shelter in Sector 94, said the sterilisation drive had begun in October. "The Noida Authority asked us to sterilise at least 25 stray dogs every day, and so far, we have operated on 380 dogs. The dogs are kept in the hospital for about seven days for post-surgery care. After that, they are released in their home territory," he added.

Only time will tell whether this sterilisation drive will help normalise the man-animal conflict in the city.