Chandigarh: A six-year-old girl, who was bitten by a rabid dog here has died, prompting city Mayor Poonam Sharma to seek help from the Centre before more lives are lost due to the stray dog menace.
Sadia, who was brutally attacked by the dog in Manimajra here on March 25, died of rabies last night at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, PGIMER spokesperson, Manju Wadwalkar said today.
The dog, who had died later after attacking 13 persons in Manimajra about three weeks back, had bitten Sadia on her lips after which she was rushed to PGIMER, she said.
She was given the anti-rabies treatment and discharged from the hospital after a week, but her condition worsened yesterday as she started frothing at the mouth and nose, after which she was again rushed to the institute, the spokesperson said.
City mayor Poonam Sharma expressed helplessness to tackle dog menace in the face of "strict laws that make it difficult to take effective steps".
"I will be writing a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in this regard. We will seek their help in dealing with the situation," she said.
The Mayor said that she had been in regular touch with Central Research Institute (CRI) officials at Kasauli (HP), the institute which had confirmed that the dog was a rabid one, and they had warned to watch for the symptoms of others who had been bitten that include six children.
In the past one year, there has been spurt in the number of dog attack cases and the municipal authorities here have been battling to find a solution to the problem.
"We tried to extend every help to Sadia, but she could not survive. Officials have been concentrating on Manimajra area and ensuring others who have been bitten are vaccinated regularly," Sharma said.
Sharma said that they have speeded up sterilisation drive for dogs, but civic authorities had their limitations.
"We have around 20,000 stray and pet dogs in the city. We can build dog ponds and take other steps to check the stray dog menace, but there are a number of NGOs who create obstacles," she said.
"The Centre should step in and see what is priority for us, to save people and children from dogs or allow the NGOs to protect the dogs," she said, adding that "we cannot test every single dog for rabies, it is not practically possible".
The Mayor also said that Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, should raise the dog menace issue and its implications for the city residents, in the Parliament.
Officials said that nearly 500 dog bite cases are reported from the city each month, with over 13,000 persons falling victim in the past over two years.
