Residents of the Raheja Circle area in Mohamadwadi gathered near Vibgyor School in large numbers to raise their voices against stray dogs and pigeon feeding.  

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials were also present, and they assured the residents that the stray dogs would be sterilised and strict action would be taken against pigeon feeding.

Ashok Mehendale, a resident of Raheja Society, said, "Beside Vibgyor School, there's a space, and it is not properly lit, and a lot of anti-social activities take place, and we are also troubled by dog menace in our area, there are around 40-70 stray dogs in this area and at night they start barking, and in recent one month there have been four cases of dog bites."

Mulani Irfan, another resident, said, "My son was bitten by a stray dog on Tuesday, the incident happened near the Vibgyor School, that area has a no-man's-road and is deserted. If the authority does not call for action, it can lead to further such incidents. It poses a threat to kids going to school.” 

“The population of strays in this area has doubled due to unregulated breeding, and no sterilisation activities have been conducted by the PMC. The dog squad van came today after my son was bitten. How many more such biting incidents does PMC need to take action," he said.

Rabies vaccine shortage

"The plight does not end here, when my son was bitten by a dog, we took him to a private clinic for the vaccination, and they referred us to Sassoon, but after reaching there, we were told that the stock was not available for a regular rabies vaccine for about a month now. We were advised to take the rabies immunoglobulin (anti-rabies serum), which was also not available, and we were told to go to the Naidu hospital in Baner. So imagine saving a life one has to go about 25km. And still, they have to return empty-handed. Management and availability of drugs is questionable in government hospitals," added Irfan.

Saroj Mayura (39), a resident of Raheja Society, was attacked by a pack of five dogs on Friday while she was riding her bike to drop her 11-year-old daughter to school.

"I have received several injuries on my knee and elbow as I fell off my bike while I was riding to drop my daughter to school. The dogs attacked my daughter’s legs from behind, and to save her, I accelerated my vehicle. Due to the panic, I lost control, and my daughter and I suffered injuries,” Mayura said.

“There are no fixed feeding spots in the area, and some people, who are not part of this society, come here and feed the dogs, and when these dogs don't get the food, they become aggressive and attack people in the road, and they chase two-wheelers," she added.

PMC’s Health Inspector Rajesh Shelar assured the residents that a dog-catching van would be deployed for an entire month to manage the stray dog population effectively. Also, a team will be deployed starting Dec 13 to strictly monitor and prevent both stray dog issues and pigeon feeding in the area.