Kochi: The opposition councillors boycotted the Angamaly municipal council meeting and held a protest march through the town on Tuesday, alleging that the municipality had failed to take urgent measures to address stray dog attacks.
The opposition said several people had been bitten by stray dogs since the new council assumed office, including 29 people who were allegedly attacked by a dog that was later found to have rabies. The protest was held against the backdrop of a recent incident that occurred last week in which around 10 people were bitten by a rabies-infected dog near Old Market Road. The opposition also claimed that more than 1,000 stray dogs were roaming in different parts of the municipality. The opposition said packs of 10 to 15 stray dogs were being seen around areas including KSRTC bus stand, market, Nayathode Higher Secondary School, Chethikode and the airport.
The protestors also demanded that aggressive stray dogs be kept in dedicated shelters instead of being vaccinated and released. They demanded that the issue of rabies-infected and aggressive dogs be discussed by setting aside the agenda of the next council meeting. After receiving no response to the demand, the opposition members boycotted the meeting and took out a protest march through the town. After the march, opposition leader T V Elias inaugurated a sit-in protest in front of the municipal office.