Trichy: For long, patients, relatives, doctors and employees at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial government hospital ( MGMGH ) in Trichy have been treading with fear as they enter the hospital premises. This is because they are most likely to be chased or bitten by a pack of ferocious dogs which have been wreaking havoc on the campus.A gang of 50 dogs have been roaming around the vast campus throughout the day and night for sometime now. It is a frightening experience for anyone to move freely through the campus. What has left the people solely at the mercy of the canines is that hospital authorities have been washing their hands of the matter claiming it was up to the civic body to act. On its part, the city corporation has been silent on the issue.Suresh Alvar, a trader, was one among the latest victims of the stray dog menace. Being a regular visitor to the campus to supply sugar to a refreshment shop, he went there as usual on Tuesday. When he was busy delivering the commodities, a dog pounced on him to grab the bundles of sugar. "I was taken aback by the incident. It took a long time for me to come out of the shock because the dog was ferocious. With the help of others in the area, I could break free from the dog. Fortunately, I escaped unhurt," said Suresh Alvar.At present, the campus has around 50 such stray dogs moving around the superspecialty building, TB centre, and isolation ward for fever patients. The security guards on the campus also found it difficult to chase them away because the dogs would retaliate. Incidences of dogs biting people on the campus have been reported time and again.The corporation health department which is responsible for catching and vaccinating the mongrels remain mute spectators. "A veterinary doctor on contract has been on leave for the past 20 days. So, we have not taken up ABC measure. We also have no idea as to what to do to control the menace," city health officer (CHO) in-charge B Alli told TOI.An animal welfare activist in the city blamed the city corporation for the menace. "It is the failure of the government. They should organize NGOs to maintain these ferocious dogs. There is no proper system in place to carry out animal birth control (ABC). If the corporation does ABC for 5,000 dogs every year for three years continuously, they can control the population of the dogs in Trichy. But they are not ready to do so," said honorary animal welfare officer G Ramakrishnan. It was unclear if any one of the dogs had undergone ABC which includes anti-rabies vaccine (ARV). The absence of ABC to the dogs may make the dogs prone to rabies attack., which presents an even bigger danger.

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