A six-year-old boy was attacked by a pack of stray dogs in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur district on Saturday morning. According to officials, the incident took place while the boy, identified as Karthikeya, was on his way to karate class near Sampat Nagar Shiva temple area in the district.
A video of the incident is doing rounds on social media in which as many as five dogs can be seen barking and attacking the boy as he tries to run. After a few seconds, a motorist who was passing by intervened and managed to rescue the boy.
However, police said that the boy has sustained serious injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital for medical care, reported PTI.
“Karthikeya, who had come to the area for the holidays, was unfortunately targeted by the pack of dogs near the temple premises. His concerned parents, who reside in Hyderabad, have been informed about the incident and are actively involved in monitoring his recovery,” a police official said.
Several incidents of stray dog attacks have come to light in the past few months. Recently, the death of prominent businessman and Wagh Bakri Tea Group scion Parag Desai brought the spotlight back on the menace of stray dogs. Desai reportedly suffered grievous injuries while trying to ward off stray dogs that attacked him on October 15. He succumbed to a brain hemorrhage a few weeks later during treatment.
In October, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram called for the establishment of a national task force to address the pressing issue of stray dogs in India, stressing that a systematic and scientifically driven approach is imperative to tackle this problem effectively. “We need a national task force to deal with the #StrayDogs issue immediately…An ethical and scientific approach is needed. Expecting inadequately equipped local administration authorities to deal with this is pointless. I have highlighted the seriousness and urgency to the PMO,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.