Pet dog bites 7-year-old girl in Noida, parents file complaint

Noida (Uttar Pradesh) [India], November 17 (ANI): A seven-year-old girl was bitten by a pet dog in a residential area in Noida’s Sector 47.
The incident took place on November 14 when the victim was walking with her grandmother, Shivkanti Pathak.
Anuj Sharma, the girl’s father, told ANI, “I immediately rushed home on being informed of the incident over phone. I found my daughter was bleeding. We took him to the Kailash Hospital where she received treatment.”
“After returning home, we located the house the dog belonged to. It is owned by Sajal, a resident of C-22. We met Sajal ji at his place. Sajal is a dog lover and keeps care of 8-10 of them. One of them bit my daughter,” Anuj said, adding there is an element of fear in the sector in the wake of the incident and his daughter is ‘scared’.
On whether action should be taken against the owner of the pet dog, the father said, “We have complained to the Noida Authority and the police department on the incident. The Noida Authority has imposed a penalty on them. However, we don’t want penalty. Our demand is that there should be no such incidents.”
Earlier, on Wednesday, a child was bitten by a dog inside an elevator at a residential society in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida.
It was the second such incident in two months in the national capital region (NCR).
In September, a schoolboy was similarly bitten by a dog inside an elevator in Ghaziabad. The latest incident was captured by a CCTV camera installed inside the elevator. It took place inside the lift of La Residentia Society in the Bisrakh police station area.
The incident took place when the child was taking the lift on the way to school. The dog bit on his hand and he was administered four injections.
Talking to ANI, the child’s mother had said pet dogs should kept away from children to avoid recurrence of such incidents.
“Stray dogs should not be allowed at societies,” she added.
In September, a boy was bitten by a dog inside the elevator of a society even as the pet’s owner allegedly remained motionless. The Ghaziabad police had registered a case in the matter.
The boy’s parents had approached Nandigram police station where a complaint under IPC Section 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animals) of the IPC was registered.
The incident was caught on a CCTV camera inside the elevator. The video shows the boy being attacked by the dog while it’s owner holds on to the leash.
When she walked out of the lift, the dog tried to pounce on the child again. But, this time, it was pulled away by the woman.
Amid a rise in such cases, the Noida Authority recently formulated a policy regarding pets. As per the guidelines issued by the authority, pet owners have to register their dogs or cats by January 31 next year or they will have to pay a fine.
Furthermore, in case of any mishap caused due to pet dogs or cats, a penalty of Rs 10,000 will be imposed.
The decision was taken at the 207th board meeting of the Noida authority in accordance with the guidelines of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI).
The authority approved the policy on keeping pets and feeding of strays in the wake of several incidents of dog bites in the city.
“In Noida Authority’s 207th board meeting, decisions were taken regarding the policy formulation of Noida Authority for stray/pet dogs/pet cats. The policy has been decided by the authority following the guidelines of the Animal Welfare Board of India for Noida region,” the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Noida Authority, Ritu Maheshwari, had said in a tweet.
The sterilisation or anti-rabies vaccination of pet dogs was also made mandatory while in case of violation, there is a provision to impose a fine of Rs 2,000 every month.
“Sterilization/antirabies vaccination of pet dogs has been made mandatory. In case of violation (from March 1, 2023), provision for imposition of a fine of Rs 2000 per month,” the CEO had said. (ANI)