New Delhi: Residents of Noida Sector-100 took out a candle-light protest on Wednesday, after a seven-month-old child was mauled to death by a stray dog in an apartment building. The residents protested against the authority for failing to provide shelter to stray dogs.
Earlier on Tuesday, anguished residents held a protest and blocked roads outside the society over the death of the child whose parents are daily-wage earners.
The dog attacked the child inside the premises of Lotus Boulevard society in Sector 100 around 4.30 pm on Monday, Dharam Vir Yadav, a representative of the society's residents group said. The child was immediately rushed to a hospital where he was undergoing treatment but he succumbed to his injuries late at night, said Gautam Budh Nagar Police, as reported by ANI.
Noida Authority official, OSD, Indu Prakash, informed the residents that the civic body will create shelter homes for the stray dogs.
"We are going to construct 4 shelter homes for stray dogs. The work is in progress. We started sterilizing stray dogs in 2017 and 40,000 dogs have been sterilized so far. We will build shelter homes for dogs in the same way as we have been doing for cows," said Prakash.
However, the residents were not satisfied by the response of the authority and continued their protest.
On average, Noida Authority gets 8-10 calls daily related to stray dog menace, including biting incidents, and for demands on increasing sterilisation of such canines, he added.
Speaking to ANI, a resident said, "We are not satisfied with the authority. The stray dogs are going in shelter homes but when they come back there is no change in them. We have raised this issue since 2018 but nothing is happening."
"The authority has decided to catch all dogs and send them to shelter homes. If they fulfill their decision, then we are satisfied or we will protest again. There are 11 dogs in society and it is impossible for us to step out. If our issues are resolved, then it is well and good otherwise will we protest again. They are saying that they will give separate shelter to them because we don't want them here," she added.
Another resident said, "They are saying that they are taking out the dogs and will sterilize them. After one month we will release them back, but we have not agreed to this decision of the authority. They are saying they will work under the guidelines but we cannot leave our children to die This is private property, not public land".
(With inputs from ANI)