Ravneet Singh
Patiala, December 25
An average of 19.62 dog bites per hour were reported in the state till September this year. The data from the Health and Family Welfare Department states that as many as 1,27,168 cases of dog bites were reported from January till September, which comes down to 470 cases a daily.
Of all the districts, the highest number of cases- 25,157, were reported in Jalandhar, followed by 15,079 in Ludhiana and 10,070 in Patiala. Ropar reported the least at 1,483.
This is worrying as most urban local bodies (ULBs) across the state have failed to hold any programmes for sterilisation of dogs. Importantly, a team from the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) will visit Punjab for inspections on Monday.
With an average of 14,129 cases of dog bites every month in the first nine months of the year, the state has already surpassed the total number of dog bite cases reported in all of 2021 — 1,26,843. The total cases reported in in 2020 were comparatively 1,10,478 and 1,34,827 in 2019.
In Patiala district, the sterilisation program was being run in Municipal Corporation, Patiala alone. It came to an end in January this year. Twelve months later, the MC, which has issued the tender four times already, is yet to allot it and begin work. An official said, “We are awaiting the sanction of special permissions to NGOs from the AWBI. Tomorrow, a team from the AWBI will visit Patiala also.”
Dr Raj Kamal, Assistant Health Officer, Jalandhar, said the work which was halted during the pandemic was given an extension till February. “We have sent documents of the next tender for vetting to the Chandigarh head office.”
In Amritsar, the new tender is yet to be allotted due to discrepancy in rates. Dr Kiran Kumar, Health Officer, said the previous tender ended in May but the NGO was directed to continue the process.
In Ludhiana, the MC sterilised 1680 dogs in November. The contract which has been going on since 2018 is to end in March 2023.
Prapti Bajaj, campaign manager for Compassion for Animal Welfare Association, an animal rights organisation, said most councils in the state lack minimal infrastructure for the process. She said, “In fact, only Muktsar Sahib and Mandi Gobindgarh councils have the infrastructure.”
Ironically, the Health Department does not have any data of cases of death due to rabies.
