Sahakarnagar residents protest civic capture of two community dogs after child bite

On June 14, a four-year-old child was allegedly attacked by a pack of stray dogs in CQAL Layout, Sahakarnagar, triggering a dispute after civic authorities captured two resident community dogs, "Scooby" and "Shadow," which locals and activists claim were not involved in the incident. The child, whose parents work as watchmen at a nearby construction site and live in a temporary hut, was playing outside during a drizzle when the attack occurred.

Following the incident, civic officials captured Scooby and Shadow and moved them to the Asara Animal Shelter in Sumanahalli. However, animal welfare volunteers and local residents allege that the dogs were seized merely to placate angry locals rather than based on evidence linking them to the attack.

Sujaya Jagadish, an animal welfare activist and SPCA member, stated that preliminary accounts suggest the attacking dogs were a pack of about six dogs that were completely new to the area. According to Jagadish, the child stepped outside, got frightened by the running pack, and was chased and attacked after she started running.

"They told us the dogs would be kept for ten days to calm down the public. This is a fraudulent pickup because the actual dogs involved in the attack are still roaming free and no serious efforts have been made to trace them," Jagadish alleged.

The child’s parents also supported this claim. In a shared video, they stated that the two captured dogs were not the ones that attacked their daughter, adding that she often played with them.

Local caregiver Maria Sindhu, who has been feeding the dogs, said Scooby has lived in the lane for nearly seven years, while Shadow is known for a calm temperament. Sindhu said she protested during the capture and provided evidence that officials were taking the wrong dogs, but her objections were ignored.

Since June 16, Scooby and Shadow have been kept under isolation at the Sumanahalli shelter. Meanwhile, caregivers note that the six dogs actually responsible for the attack remain missing. The incident has reignited discussions among local advocates regarding Bengaluru's Animal Birth Control programme and the management of human-dog conflicts.