Vijay Goel issues ultimatum to Pune Municipal Corporation over stray dog menace

BJP leader and former Union minister Vijay Goel, who has been leading a movement against the stray dog menace in Delhi, has visited a housing society here which is facing the same issue and is embroiled in litigation over it.

A 10-point programme should be implemented to curb the problem and it is the responsibility of civic authorities to deal with it, Goel said on Tuesday during his visit to Bramha Suncity society in Wadgaonsheri area. As per the residents, a boy in the society was attacked by stray dogs in February this year, following which the residents complained to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

The PMC took away 50 to 60 dogs, but an animal activist, who does not live in the society, moved the Bombay High Court which ordered the PMC to release the dogs. The residents then moved the Supreme Court and managed to get a stay on the HC order.

There is a need of a 10-point programme to address the issue, including 100 per cent sterilisation of stray dogs, administration of anti-rabies injections, an efficient dog adoption policy, and the government should provide compensation to dog-bite victims, Goel said.

Packs of stray dogs are roaming around and they pose a danger to senior citizens and children in housing societies, he said. The former Union minister said municipalities have the responsibility to deal with the stray dog issue, but they are not doing it.