Dogs leave Sitapur in fear, 18 teams, WWF, vets on ground

The scared villagers, however, are sure that there are more “killer dogs” out on the prowl. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)

Officials claim to have caught around 37 stray dogs so far, along with villagers, and rule out speculation that the animals are not dogs but hyenas.

While seven of the children were killed two months ago, six have been killed in the past week. Three among those were killed while out trying to collect mangoes after the recent storm.

Asserting that the animals who are killing children are indeed street dogs, Sitapur City Magistrate Harsh Dev Pandey said they were trying to determine why they had turned violent. The 37 dogs that have been caught had been sent to Kanha Upwan (an animal shelter) in Lucknow, he added.

“We believe that the problem is nearly solved and that the dogs attacking children have been caught. Around 12 to 13 such dogs have also been killed by people of the affected villages,” the Magistrate added.

District Forest Officer (DFO) Aniruddha Pandey too assuaged fears of villagers about the dogs being not “normal”.

Stray dogs are believed to be behind the death of 13 children in 12 villages within a radius of around 20 km in this district. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)

The teams hired by the Sitapur district administration include 15 of its own officials — some of them from police — two from Lucknow Municipal Corporation, and a four-member team of experts in catching monkeys, that has been called from Mathura.

The scared villagers, however, are sure that there are more “killer dogs” out on the prowl. Sabir Ali, whose nephew Kasim, 10, died on May 6 after being attacked by a pack of five dogs, says, “In shape and size, the dogs that attacked my nephew were different from normal street dogs.”

Sabir and Kasim’s father Jabir Ali are among 50 villagers who have been trying to chase away dogs. They said they had killed one such dog on Monday.

Brijesh Kumar, 16, who claims to have seen the attack on Karim, says he was out with his goats when the dogs pounced on him. “I ran towards him with a stick in my hand. While four of the dogs ran away, one kept holding Kasim’s neck between her jaws.”

Geeta, 7, was killed in Masoompur village, 12 km away, reportedly by five dogs. Ram Kripal, who claims to have seen the dogs attacking her, says, “They were biting the girl on her neck, thighs and stomach. They were even eating the meat while she was still alive. I am sure if we had reached 5-10 minutes later, we would not have even found the body.”

In Firozpur village, 10-year-old Aman is critically injured after being attacked by dogs. Worried that angry villagers may kill innocent stray dogs of their village, some have put collars around their necks.

Shakeel Ahmad, heading the team from Mathura, said they want more money to do the job. “We were promised Rs 600 per captured dog. We have caught 20-22 dogs since we started work on May 3. We have demanded at least Rs 1 lakh. The officials have asked me to wait.”

Ahmad added that he believed that the dogs had taken to attacking people as they were attracted by the meat consumed in the villages. “The same had happened earlier in Bareilly and Moradabad. But the problem is bigger in Sitapur.”