BJP leader Vijay Goel visits Pune society facing stray dog problem, says civic bodies must act

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

A ten-point program should be implemented to curb the problem and it is the responsibility of the civic authorities to deal with it, Goel said during his visit to Bramha SunnCitu society.

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 ten-point programme to address the issue, including 100 percent 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 danger to senior citizens and children in housing societies," he said.

Municipalities have the responsibility to deal with the stray dog issue but they are not doing it, the former Union minister said.

Further, the animal welfare board recently came out with Animal Birth Control Rules which are also creating hurdles in finding a solution to the issue, the former Union minister said.

"We recently met the minister of the concerned ministry and requested him that there is a need to amend these rules and guidelines," Goel said.

Nagendra Rampuria, one of the members of the society, said looking at the movement launched by Goel regarding the stray dog menace, they met him in Delhi and apprised him of their ordeal.

Former BJP city unit president Jagdish Mulik and former standing committee chairman Yogesh Mulik accompanied Goel during his visit to the society.