Appalled by attacks on children by feral dogs, the district administration here has appealed to people to constitute monitoring committees to prevent such incidents.
Six children had died of such attacks this month.
"We appeal to you to constitute monitoring committees to prevent the children from being attacked by dogs. Details of the children who were killed in such attacks have been issued. Eyewitness accounts and monitoring committees have confirmed the attacks by pack of dogs," District Magistrate Sheetal Verma said.
She said 30 dogs have so far been sent to Kanha Upvan, Lucknow for sterilisation after which they were to be released in the open.
The DM has also directed schools to ask parents to remain alert, adding that Animal Birth Control (ABC) clinics will also start functioning from today.
Besides a team of the World Wildlife Fud (WWF), experts from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) will be engaged to find out the reasons behind such attacks, and document the same as a case study.
She also dismissed reports of the administraiton being involved in killing of dogs, as she invited workers of animal welfare organisations and other animal lovers to monitor the initiatives taken by the district administration.
A total of 12 children have fallen prey to dog attacks so far.
"Since November, 2017, 12 children have fallen prey to dogs, while six have been injured," Verma said.
Such is the fear of these attacks that school attendance has dipped, with police doing extra patrolling and men going to their orchards and fields armed with rods and axes.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also taken strong cognisance of the menace.
"Effective action should be taken by forming joint teams comprising officials of the police department, animal health department, nagar palika and nagar panchayat. A team of experts from Lucknow and Bareilly should be called, and a probe be done in this regard," he had said.
Some experts believe shortage of food triggered by the recent crackdown on illegal abattoirs, to be a reason behind the canine aggression.
"Earlier when the abattoirs were operational, the dogs used to get food in the form of leftovers. But, with the closure of such abattoirs, there is shortage of food for them (the dogs),"
R K Singh, director of Bareilly-based Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), said.
"Before this, such an aggressive nature of dogs was not reported from the area. And, it would be unfair to call the dogs in Sitapur 'man-eaters'. This is primarily a case of man-animal conflict," he said.
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