A stray dog barged into a home and attacked an eight-year-old and his father, leaving them both injured. A CCTV footage of the incident also went viral, showing the dog attacking the boy while his family members rushed to rescue him.
According to a report by NDTV, class 3 student Senthil was getting ready to go to school near the compound gate, which was left open. While Senthil’s father, Muthusamy, was at home, the stray dog barged inside and started biting the boy’s legs and thighs.
After hearing screams from him, 40-year-old Muthusamy rushed to save the boy. Visuals show that the dog then turns his aggression towards the father and tries to bite his leg as Muthusamy protects his son.
In the video, the dog can be seen running erratically, attacking family members in the yard. As per the report, it took nearly half an hour for Madurai Corporation’s animal control team to catch the dog after multiple attempts.
Meanwhile, the boy and his father were admitted to the Madurai Government Hospital, where Senthil received stitches in three places, and the anti-rabies treatment is underway.
Talking to NDTV, residents said that the stray dogs are a constant menace in the area, urging the civic body to act immediately. They said that the dogs are drawn by the leftover food and fish waste dumped by hotels. They said that Civic bodies should warn hotels against dumping food waste in the open.
A few weeks ago Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the growing menace of stray dogs, followed by a media report about the death of a six-year-old girl in Delhi due to rabies. The bench called the incident “highly disturbing.”
Cases of dog attacks have been on the rise, with similar cases being reported where a dog attacks someone without provocation. Earlier Supreme Court called for structure and accountability in feeding stray dogs.