Hyderabad : Stray dogs continued their rampage in the twin cities on Tuesday, biting about a dozen persons at the Research Centre Imarat (RCI), a high-security defence corridor, in Kanchanbagh.

This is the third attack by dogs in the last two weeks. Stray dogs had bitten students and an attendant on the Koti Women’s College campus on Monday and had mauled a seven-month-old baby to death a week ago.Panic spread in the RCI area in Pahadi Shareef police limits as a pack of stray dogs went on a biting spree. The injured were rushed to the nearby military dispensary for first aid. Among those bitten by the dogs
were Naval officer Chandran, Class XI student Archana Varma, and LKG student Priyanka.

They were shifted to a corporate hospital after being given first aid. Their condition is said to be stable.Archana said that dogs pounced on her when she was returning home from the Defence Lab School. “I was really scared and bled a lot,” she said. “Now I am feeling better, but there is pain.” Local people criticised representatives of the Blue Cross and officials of the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad for failing to contain the dog menace.

“These animal lovers travel only in cars,” said a resident of the area. “They will understand the hardships of the public only if they walk through the streets.” People said that Blue Cross representatives should adopt dogs instead of releasing them back on the roads after sterilisation. MCH commissioner Sanjay Jaju said that the dog menace could not be solved in one or two days since there were 70,000 stray dogs on the city’s roads.

“The MCH and non-governmental organisations can sterilise about 2,000 dogs a month,” Mr Jaju said. “We cannot kill the remaining dogs mercilessly.” He said that the civic body would cover the entire city in a systematic manner. “We are now focusing on the Old City and will move to other areas soon,” he said.