An 82-year-old women in Lucknow succumbed to death after being attacked by her son's pet pitbull dog on Tuesday morning. The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) has announced legal action against the owner of the pitbull dog in failure to submit the pet license, reported news agency IANS.
At the time of incident, Savita Tripathi who had retired as a teached from Nari Shiksha Niketan was alone in the house. Her son Amit is a gym trainer who had then left for a training session but later came back after neighbours informed him that they heard Savita's screams. Amit has two dogs -a pitbull called Brownie and a labrador called Daisy.
Amit found her mother lying in a pool of blood when he returned. She later passed away during treatment in a hospital. Sharing details of the incident, Municipal commissioner Indrajit Singh said the son could not produce the licence and was impolite with the team.
“Considering the sensitivity of the situation, the team returned from his house after telling him to produce the licence on Wednesday. The LMC team again visited his house but neighbours informed us that the family had gone to immerse mortal remains in the Ganga, leaving dogs with people living on rent in the same house," said Singh, as per the IANS report.
Joint director, animal welfare department, Lucknow Municipal Corporation, Dr Arvind Rao, vowed action if the owner failed to produce a pet licence for the dogs. The post-mortem examination report of Savita Tripathi has revealed over a dozen injury marks.
There were four major wounds on the victim's head, face, stomach and thighs. There was also a 6cm deep wound in her stomach. "Excessive loss of blood led to her death," said deputy commissioner of police, west zone, Shivasimpi Channappa.
Why is Pit Bull considered dangerous ?
Pitbulls are known for being strong and confident. Even as the breed is mostly friendly to humans, it has been banned in countries, including the United Kingdom. A pit bull isn’t one specific breed and infact it is a catch-all term for a number of different breeds.
In 1991, the government has banned pit bulls in response to incidents due to vicious and often unprovoked attacks, by this particular breed of canine on humans.
The United Kennel Club goes on to describe Pitbulls as 'excellent family companions' who have been observed for their love of children. However, it warns dog owners to "carefully socialize and obedience-train the dog" due to its aggression and powerful physique.
What to keep in mind?
Municipal commissioner Inderjit Singh also cautioned people to avoid keeping hunting dog breeds like American Pitbull, Rottweiler, Siberian Husky, Doberman Pinscher and Boxer as pets because they tend to become ferocious.
"Before making a dog pet, we should consider the nature of the breed and the environment where they live. Foreign hunting breeds find it difficult to accommodate in our environment and can become violent. Hence, they should not be kept as pets," he said.
Instead, he stressed that friendly small breeds should be reared. Even if large breeds are kept, one has to take special care and only trained dogs should be kept. The food should be arranged as per their nature and while eating food, one should avoid giving any sedative.
What does manual for dog keeping says?
The Lucknow Municipal Corporation released a manual for keeping dogs named Swan License Control and Regulation Bye-law 2003, according to India Today report. The manual says that people who are fond of keeping dogs will be required to mandatorily get a license after adhering to several conditions.
It also states that any person shall keep and bind his dog in a manner that there is no objection to the neighbour.