Packs of dogs attack tsunami disaster survivors
Civic workers have been ordered to kill packs of stray dogs that have been attacking tsunami survivors in some of the worst-hit areas of southern India, officials said today.
At least 30 dogs were killed yesterday in the coastal town of Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu state after the canines attacked people, including children, at relief shelters, a government official said on condition of anonymity.
Stray dogs are common in cities and towns in India. But the dogs seen around almost every relief centre are particularly aggressive, snarling menacingly at people, especially when food is being distributed to tsunami survivors.
The behaviour of the dogs had changed after they ate corpses washed ashore after the tsunami struck the region, said Shantha Sheela Nair, the top official in charge of relief work in the district.
“In the early days after the tsunami, the dogs had been eating animal carcasses and human bodies. The corpses have been cleared, but the behaviour of the dogs has changed,” she said.
“The dogs have been attacking people, especially children. They have been moving around like a pack of wolves and people were terrified after some of them were attacked.”
Nair said the dogs’ behaviour is further traumatising tsunami victims already in shock.
“At night their howling scares the children. We don’t want people to be traumatised further after the trauma they’ve already gone through,” she said.
Other officials said animal welfare groups, currently in Nagapattinam to help with the tsunami relief work, had agreed to the elimination of the strays after they received reports of dogs chasing children and others at the relief centres.
