TEAM HERALD
PONDA: Barely a month after 11 persons were bitten by a rabid dog at Bethora-Ponda, two dogs attacked 12 people in the area of Ponda Municipal Council (PMC) on Sunday and Monday.
According to reports, Chandrakant Kerkar (74) of Durgabhat-Shantinagar was seriously injured after a dog bit him on his legs, hand and fingers. The incident occurred on Monday at about 7.15 am when Kerkar had gone to pluck flowers for pooja. The dog bit him severely and while he was trying to save himself, Kerkar fell in the gutter, but the dog continued to attack him.
The incident occurred in front of the house of former PMC chairperson Kishore Mamlekar, who rushed to his help and shifted Kerkar to Sub-District Hospital.
Anuradha Kumari (14) from Durgabat and others were also bitten by dogs in two days.
When contacted Ponda acting chairperson Shantaram Colvekar to know what measures have been taken to control the stray dog menace, he said PMC has given the contract to ‘People for Animal’ (POP) an NGO at Curti to catch stray dogs and administer sterilisation and vaccinate them.
“The NGO is also given two PMC staff to catch the animals and we pay them monthly fees for their services. PMC also conducted anti-rabies mission in PMC area, where a foreign NGO conducted the programme,” he said.
Medical Superintendent (MS) at Ponda Sub-District Hospital Dr Pradeep Shinkre said the dog menace is increasing and also the cases at the Sub-district Hospital are increasing.
