The residents now expect the ward councillors to be elected to take their complaints seriously and find a solution for once and all.
The residents say sighting packs of stray dogs on the streets is too common in the city. “They pose a threat to the people going out for walk in the mornings and evenings. Stray dogs chasing bike riders and biting them is also common. In many areas, stray dogs prevent children from getting out of their houses and playing on the streets,” one of them told TOI.
Animal lovers, however, say dumping garbage on roadsides is one of the reasons for stray dog menace. “The dogs get plenty of food from garbage heaps and they breed quickly. Scaling up sterilization of dogs and ending dumping food waste in open spaces will help address the stray dog menace to a large extent,” they say.
A city corporation official said the sterilization activity had taken a beating after the center at Ukkadam was closed down in 2017 following the protest by local residents. There was then only one center at Seeeranaickenpalayam to sterilize the stray dogs. The sterilisation drive gained momentum in October 2021, when a new center was opened at Ondipudur.”
The official said the stray dog population in the city was estimated at 45,000.
M Devendran, secretary, Coimbatore District Roads Protection Association, said there were instances of stray dogs causing accidents by chasing bike riders. “We have raised the issue with the corporation officials in the past few years, but nothing much has changed.”
Abdul Rahim, a resident of Ponvizha Nagar near pullukadu, said while they had made several representations to the city corporation officials to end open dumping in their locality, the officials had failed to curb the same. “Dogs gather to feed on the waste on the roadsides and wander around the residential areas, creating panic. Children and twowheeler riders are the worst affected by the dog menace.”
The residents said they would raise the issue once again after electing their new ward representatives, who would be urged to find a solution to the issue at the earliest.
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