Aurangabad, Aug 30:
Believe it or not, the stray dogs have become a nuisance for car-owners parking their vehicles on the side of roads or on-campus of the ungated housing societies or apartments. The menace is causing a financial burden to them as stray dogs damage their vehicles, and other accessories by climbing up their cars, sit or stand comfortably. This is bringing annoyance and frustration for most the car-owners in the city.
A car owner, Faiz Patel (of Yuonus Colony) said," This sight has become common in the city. The stray dogs are damaging the colour of the car's roof, bonnet, the surface level of the car's roof has been pressed down and umpteen scratches have appeared on the car. This annoys me as I had hired regular cleaners for the car, then also, I had to wipe out the dirty pug marks that emerged on the car roof or wash the vehicle again. They are even tearing the expensive covers, as a result, the layers of dust get formed on the car due to passing of vehicles in speed and its colour is also fading."
It may be noted that due to the shortage of parking spaces in the posh localities (ungated) many of them are coerced to park their cars on the roadside or on the campus of their apartment or housing complex. This is proving an advantage for stray dogs. The goats are also spotted relaxing on the bonnet or the roof of cars.
Adds Harres Siddiqui (Arif Colony)," They become aggressive when we waive them to get down. In response, they try to terrorise us by barking. The stray dogs sleep and relax during the daytime beneath the cars. Ironically, many of these dogs are injured ones. The adults and children are reeling under threat due to their menace. I had done every possible way to keep these stray dogs away but is in vain. We also tried placing bottles filled with red-coloured water, but failed to prevent them from climbing or coming near the cars."
We are doing our best: AMC
The AMC's livestock supervisor and in-charge of the dog squad, Shaikh Shahed said, " We have three dog-catching vans and the task of catching dogs is performed with the help of 18 personnel (including eight contractual staff). There are more than 30,000 stray dogs in the city. We are doing our best with the available staff and facilities and always target to redress complaints on priority. We have not received any such complaints, so far. The dogs are good sniffers. As a result, they immediately raise an alarm and disappear into the nearby lanes on seeing dog catching van in their lane. Apparently, our staff had to face hardship while locating and catching them."