The citizens of Vijayawada are a worried lot as they continue to be hounded by stray dogs that have multiplied across the city.

This stems from the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation’s (VMC) inability to take adequate steps to control the menace, according to a report by Pathri Vasudevan of the Deccan Chronicle.

People living in residential areas are hesitant to move out, as stray dogs continue to be a nuisance at street corners, markets and public parks. Gunadala, Maruthinagar, Madhuranagar, Satyanarayanapuram and Kabela centre residents have been especially affected.

The Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation (IGMC) Stadium has been seeing dwindling numbers of joggers and morning walkers, as they are scared to venture out due to the stray dog menace.

At present, the city has nearly 16,500 street dogs and only 7,852 of those have been sterilised, as per the VMC officials.

Currently, there is one animal birth control (ABC) centre of Jeeva Karunya Society for sterilising dogs, in operation at Bhavanipuram. A second ABC centre, at Ajith Singh Nagar at an estimated cost of Rs 20 lakh, has been inaugurated.

The two government hospitals in the city are afflicted by a paucity of anti-rabies vaccines. According to Government General Hospital (GGH) doctors, nearly 40 people with dog bites come to government hospitals for treatment every week.

Meanwhile, it is reported that the VMC is planning to sign an MoU with Animal Care Land of Tirupati.