An 18-month-old boy died, while another boy suffered injuries when street dogs attacked them in separate incidents in Telangana, the police said on Wednesday.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy expressed anguish over the boy's death in Hyderabad and directed officials to take steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future.
The boy died after allegedly being mauled by a pack of stray dogs at Jawahar Nagar in Hyderabad when he came out of his house Tuesday night.
A dog dragged him to some distance and later some strays bit him resulting in injuries, they said.
The boy was initially rushed to a private hospital and from there referred to a state-run hospital where he died last night, a police official at Jawahar Nagar police station said.
Based on a complaint from the boy's parents, a case was registered.
The family hails from Siddipet district and shifted to Jawahar Nagar in Hyderabad two months ago.
The grief-stricken mother of the boy told mediapersons that she had gone out from home to get medicines.
The boy, who was playing inside, came out of the house when the pack of dogs attacked him.
The boy did not survive though he was rushed to a hospital, she said.
"Our fate has become like giving away the children to dogs. We used to treat him with a lot of love and attention. We fail to understand how this has happened. It happened in just five-10 minutes. We wanted to go to our village for a festival (Ekadashi). But we are taking him like this," the woman, who was in tears, said.
The number of street dogs in the locality is very high, she said, adding the authorities should take steps to check the menace of dogs so that others do not have to face such tragedies.
Noting that incidents of dog attacks were being reported often, CM Revanth Reddy told officials to establish either a toll free number or a call centre to receive complaints from residents of localities where street dogs' menace is prevalent, an official release said.
He suggested forming a committee of experts comprising veterinary doctors and representatives of animal welfare organisations like Blue Cross to study the reasons for the dog attacks, an official release said.
He also instructed officials to take up vaccination drives to check the canine menace.
Health department officials were asked to ensure that medicines to treat patients of dog bites are available in all urban health centres in Hyderabad and all primary healthcare centres in the state.
In another incident, a seven-year-old boy, who was playing in front of his house Tuesday evening at Mangela village in Jagtial district was attacked by a stray dog, police said.
The boy sustained bleeding injuries and was admitted to a government hospital. The boy was stated to be out of danger.
