Those demanding a humane approach towards abandoned animals need to stop and think of the cost of all this, the lives that were snuffed out and the toll it takes on those left behind.
When Parag Desai stepped out of his house for his routine walk, little did he or his family know that it would be the last time or his last walk.
Tea taster Parag Desai was Executive Director of the well-known Wagh Bakri tea brand. He was a fourth generation member of the Desai family which successfully steered the company, Parag’s great grandfather had set up way back in 1892.
At 49, Parag’s death was untimely.
Tragedy apart, it is the cause that made everyone sit up: stray dogs.
The ill-fated day was October 15. Desai was trying to ward off stray dogs when he fell and suffered a brain haemorrhage. He was rushed to the hospital where he, unfortunately, lost the battle for life.
Reports confirm Shri Desai was taking a walk in his residential society close to his bungalow when stray dogs rushed towards him. He ran but lost his balance and fell, resulting in a brain haemorrhage.
The press note that the hospital issued confirmed that he fell down after being chased by dogs, adding that the hospital has been getting “a lot of cases due to dog bites or accidents caused by stray animals”.
Desai’s is not the only case resulting in death due to the stray dogs menace.
In March this year, two siblings were mauled to death by stray dogs in India’s capital city, Delhi.
Earlier this year, a four-year old was mauled by a pack of strays in Hyderabad; last year, a baby died after being bitten by a stray dog in Noida in Uttar Pradesh; a two-year old attacked by four strays in Surat, Gujarat; while in Bihar as many as 70 people were attacked by one single dog; doctors in Punjab put the figure of dog bites to 40 per month adding that in November last year as many as 145 cases were reported.
The issue is not of deaths, dog bites or attacks; it is a menace which seems to have gripped several parts of the country. It has also reopened the debate among activists and citizens particularly those that were affected or have suffered.
The Kannur district panchayat had moved the court seeking permission to euthanize wild dogs stating that stray dog bites and road accidents had multiplied and hence needed to be tackled. Petitions vacillated between elimination of stray dogs versus the issue being addressed according to the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Animal Birth Control (Dog) Rules, 2023.
