On 17th August, a stray dog went on a biting rampage and attacked 25 people including seven children in a village near Chinna Salem of district Kallakurichi and a village near Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. The dog bit the victims on the limbs and faces.

As per a police statement, several people had gathered for a temple festival in V Mamandur near Chinna Salem. A dog suddenly started attacking and biting people. Over 15 devotees were bitten by the dog in a short span. The villagers somehow managed to chase the rouge dog away.

The same dog later reached the neighbouring village Panaiyanthur in district Cuddalore and bit another dozen people. By the time this report was published, there was no information if the dog was caught or not.  the victims were treated at Chinna Salem government general hospital in Kallakurichi where they received rabies shots.

4-year-old died of rabies despite getting vaccination

In other news, a four-year-old boy died of rabies on 13th August, 17 days after he was bitten by a stray dog in Ranipet district of Tamil Nadu. The incident took place on 27th July after which the dog was stoned to death by the angry villagers. The victim, identified as Nirmal, was the son of B Kalaivani and Balaji. His father is an auto rickshaw driver from Gandhipuram in Arakkonam Talum. On the evening of 27th July, Nirmal was playing outside his house when the stray dog attacked him. He sustained injuries to his mouth. He was rushed to the hospital where he received a four-dose rabies vaccine.

He was then shifted to Chengalpattu Government Hospital and remained in intensive care for 15 days. Initially, his condition stabilised but soon after he was brought home, he started showing symptoms including shouting and crying. He was taken to the hospital where the parents were informed that the rabies virus infected his nervous system. The doctors gave him only two days to live. On the 13th, he succumbed to the infection. Doctors believe that as the wound was in proximity with the brain, the infection travelled faster and affected the nervous system. Another 11-year-old kid was also attacked by the same dog but he was declared safe after re-examination.

Stray dog attack leaves 17 people injured in one hour in Gorakhpur

On 14th August, a 22-year-old man named Ashish Yadav became one of the 17 victims of a series of attacks by a stray dog in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. Ashish was attending a call outside his house while walking casually when the stray dog attack left him in shock. The video of the incident has gone viral on social media.

The CCTV video was recorded at around 9:45 PM on 14th August outside Ashish’s house. Ashish, who is a BBA student, was walking casually attending a call. Suddenly, a stray dog came from behind and attacked him. Ashish tried to get away and managed to do so for a couple of seconds but the dog kept biting him. By the end of the attack, the dog bit Ashish on his leg, arm and mouth. As the dog ran away, Ashish’s family members also rushed out and Ashish was seen getting inside the house holding his bleeding face.

Reports suggest that Ashish was not the only victim of the dog’s attack. 16 other people from the locality were attacked by the same dog in under 60 minutes, including women and children. After Ashish, the dog attacked a woman who was outside her house. After that woman, the dog went on to attack two girls who were playing outside their home.

Stray dog menace in India

In recent years, the problem of stray dogs has increased exponentially in India. Because of the failure of civic authorities and the ‘activism’ of so-called animal lovers for the stray dogs without any responsiblity, the attacks on humans have increased. In an answer to the question posed by BJP leader Atul Gard in Lok Sabha, the government informed that there were 30 lakh dog bite cases reported in the country in 2023 alone and 286 people lost their lives due to rabies.

On 8th August, it was reported that an 18-month-old boy was hospitalised after a stray dog attacked him near Satavahana University in Karimnagar district. In the CCTV footage, the toddler, identified as Harinandan, could be seen playing with another child on the roadside when the dog pounced on him, inflicting severe injuries. The victim’s mother, who was nearby, rushed and rescued the child, chasing the dog away.

On 27th July, it was reported that 11, including three children, were injured in a stray dog attack in Kharar, Punjab. A 5-year-old was admitted to the hospital in serious condition.

On 10th March, a pack of stray dogs attacked and dragged a 5-year-old girl in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh. She suffered multiple dog bites before locals could rescue her.