BJP MP in Lok Sabha raises issue of dog bites, demands committee to review laws

New Delhi: A BJP MP on Tuesday flagged the issue of rising cases of dog bites and demanded that a committee be formed to deal with the sensitive issue as children were unable to play freely amid an environment of terror due to such incidents.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Ghaziabad MP Atul Garg said it had emerged in an answer to a question that 30.5 lakh people had been bitten by dogs in India and 286 people died.

"If this figure is correct, then in Ghaziabad alone, 35,000 people have been bitten by dogs in a year. Small kids are becoming victims of this. In the newspaper the day before yesterday, a photo and news appeared that a dog bit off an ear of a child. Four days ago, a small child of a labourer died a painful death due to rabies," he said.

Garg said that if a pet dog bit someone, a person could be held responsible but no dog lover came forward to save the person being attacked if it was a stray dog.

"I urge you that earlier also in Parliament and in the Supreme Court, laws have been reconsidered and laws have been made ... Children cannot play, an atmosphere of terror has been created within the city. So it is my request that a committee is formed and the matter be taken up," he said.

There is an imbalance in the laws between love for animals and human freedom, the MP said.

"Be it any government or court, humanity should be given primacy. So a committee should be formed on it," Garg asserted.