Stray dog attacks morning walkers on museum premises in Thiruvananthapuram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The stray dog menace in the capital city has assumed alarming proportions as about five morning walkers were bitten by a dog inside the museum premises on Tuesday. I was walking when the dog suddenly lunged at me from behind and bit my legs. One of the wounds is quite deep. It was scary and the security guards let the stray dogs roam freely inside the compound and I have seen them chasing two-wheelers many times. Its dangerous, said 62-year-old Thampy Bal, one among the five victims. A peaceful morning walk at Museum which draws hundreds of regular walkers and tourists each day turned tragic for many on Tuesday when the dog started attacking and scaring everybody present at the time. The incident occurred at 7.30am and I went to the General Hospital for treatment. Its a closed premises and the authorities could ensure that dogs dont roam freely and attack people, added Thampy. Following the incident, the Museum and Zoo authorities have decided to ban outside food on campus. Director of the Department of Museums and Zoo P S Manjula Devi told TNIE that an emergency meeting was convened following the incident and a decision has been taken to ban outside food inside the campus. The dogs enter the premises because of food waste thrown around by people coming here. We remove around 100kg of food waste daily. We have decided to ban outside food on the campus and the security guards have been asked to enforce it. There is a freedom food truck parked right outside the museum, and people buy and have food sitting in the lawn. They just throw the waste around attracting dogs. We have informed the city corporation about the food truck, to relocate it to another location, said Manjula. She confirmed that one of the dogs had rabies. The dog squad under the city corporation swung into action immediately after the incident and caught around six dogs from the premises. We have kept them in isolation for the time being. Two dogs were found dead and we sent the sample for further scrutiny. The museum authorities should strengthen the compound wall so that dogs dont enter. Also they should manage the food waste more efficiently, said corporation veterinary surgeon Dr Sreerag J. The project to strengthen the compound wall has been long pending. The project has been in the pipeline and its a specialised work and we couldnt do it because we didnt get a right contractor. PWD cannot do it. We have identified certain locations and have decided to temporarily fix the wall so that dogs dont enter the premises, said Manjula.