It was a gloomy Tuesday morning at the botany department of Gujarat University. Two peacocks were found dead near the lawn. When students took a closer look they realised that the birds had fallen prey to dogs.
One of the students who first noticed the carcasses on the ground told DNA that he witnessed dogs dragging away one dead peacock while another dog attacked two more peacocks on the ground. "I shooed away the dogs and managed to save two peacocks. But the dogs dragged a dead peacock, leaving another behind," said Sanjay Chaudhary, a student at the botany
department.
Dogs on GU campus are a threat to not only the national bird but also to morning walkers and joggers on the campus. Since there is no food available, the canines attack birds there. According to estimates given by the authorities, such attacks have brought down the number of peacocks from 500 a few years ago to around 150.
Chaudhary, who stays in the hostel, claims that despite several requests to the Cattle Nuisance Control Department (CNCD) of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), they have failed to take away stray dogs from the campus. "Sometimes when we return after dinner outside, we see the AMC dog van releasing canines near GU campus," he said. He added that they had routed complaints of dog menace through the workshop department to CNCD but no action has been taken so far.
GU vice-chancellor Dr Parimal Trivedi says, he has written five letters to AMC authorities to curb the menace on the campus.
"They do not bother to come on campus to catch dogs. Sometimes they say they do not know how to catch dogs. Our complaints fall on deaf ears," he said. Trivedi said that they would write another letter to AMC for help to curb dog menace on the campus.
However, when DNA contacted Dilip Gor, deputy municipal commissioner in charge of CNCD, he said that he had not received any communication from GU authorities in last one and half years. He even denied receiving any letter from Trivedi.
"My staff catches dogs with nets now. They cannot run at the dogs' speed and jump like them, so sometimes they fail to catch the animals," he said, giving an explanation for the department's failure to catch dogs from the GU campus.
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