4-year-old mauled by dog

Ishfaq Mir
Srinagar, April 12: With the ever increasing population of stray dogs in the city and the failure of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) to check the menace, a four-year-old boy became another dog bite victim at Batamaloo here on Sunday.
Shahid Shabir of Batamaloo Bypass was mauled by a rabid dog tearing his right eye-lid. The victim also suffered major injuries on face and mouth.
The boy was admitted at SMHS hospital, where the doctors stated his condition as critical due to severe blood loss.
“We have given him all vaccines, but it is difficult to say anything at this stage as witnesses said that the dog was licking his face after the attack. The dog had cut half his face and his lips.  It is difficult to say anything about his recovery at this time,” in charge Anti-Rabies Clinic, Muhammad Yousuf told Rising Kashmir.
Depicting the magnitude of the problem, the doctors at SMHS said almost 1056 victims of dog bites have been admitted in the hospital since January this year.
“On an average we treat 10 dog bite cases every day. But this incident was very bad one.  Since morning we saw at least 21 new cases,” said a doctor at the Anti Rabies Clinic.
The menace of dog bites has risen exponentially in Srinagar with municipality estimating that there are almost one hundred thousand dogs in the city.  
On average 4000 cases of animal bites are received in Anti-Rabies Clinic at SMHS hospital every year.
Commissioner SMC, Farooq Renzu said the corporation is concerned about the issue, but the Supreme Court’s stay order over the killing of stray dogs and Public Interest Litigations have affected the pace of the drive.
“Dog menace is there and we can’t help it. If we catch the dogs alive to throw them away from the city, we need space for that. But we are yet to identify such a place. I have already issued directions for anti-rabies vaccination and we will soon start sterilization to bring down the birth rate of dogs,” Renzu said.