A 34-year-old man from Belagavi in Karnataka was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs late on Thursday night. Imamsaab Kittur was found lying in a pool of blood at Bailhongal bus stand, after he was attacked by nearly fifteen stray dogs, The Times of India reports.
The report states that CCTV footage showed Imamsaab being attacked by a group of stray dogs.
According to the report, Imamsaab was in an inebriated state at the time the stray dogs attacked him. The incident came to light when police inspector Sanganagouda Patil came across Imamsaab, who had collapsed on the road after the attack. The inspector was out on his routine night patrol.
Although the police inspector rushed Imamsaab to the hospital, the latter died before he got medical attention.
Recent media reports state that stray dog attacks in Karnataka aren't an isolated incident. In May last year, a six-year-old girl was attacked by ten stray dogs in Magadi road in Bengaluru. The stray dogs reportedly attacked the girl when she was playing in front of her house along with a friend. Though her friend managed to escape, the girl was attacked by the stray dogs and sustained injuries on her face. At the time, reports had stated that BBMP officials had not visited the place, despite the residents complaining about stray dog menace for long.
More recently, Kannada actress Parul Yadav was attacked by stray dogs in Mumbai, while she was out on an evening walk. Parul, who had sustained injuries on her head, arms and legs, was then admitted to a hospital for treatment.
A report published by TOI in April last year quote BBMP officials as saying that there are at least a 1000 cases of dog attacks in Bengaluru a month. Of this, at least 60% are stray dog attacks.
"From April 2015 to February 2016, 15,761 cases of dog bites were reported, of which 9,905 involved stray dogs. This translates into 27 bites a day. From April 2014-April 2015, the figure stood at 19,488, of which 11,842 were from street dogs," Maheshwara Gowda, joint director, animal husbandry department, BBMP told TOI.
According to the 19th Livestock Census 2012, Bengaluru City has 1.03 lakh stray dogs and there are 34,125 stray dogs in Bengaluru Rural, reports The Hindu. However, NGOs and animal welfare organizations estimate that this number is not less than 3.5 lakh.