Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday assured that necessary steps would be taken to end canine attacks.
After a 65-year-old woman become the latest victim of the stray dog menace in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday assured that necessary steps would be taken to end such canine attacks.
Siluvamma, a local resident, was attacked by a large pack of dogs on the Pulluvila beach at nearby Kanjiramkulam last night and died of her injuries while being rushed to a hospital.
The dogs also attacked the local people who tried to rescue the woman, her family said.
In a separate incident, another native of Pulluvila, Daisy, was also attacked and severely injured by stray dogs on Friday night. These incidents triggered an outrage in the area.
Reacting to the incidents, Mr Vijayan said stray dog menace had increased in several parts of the state.
In a brief statement on Saturday night, he said the concern and fear of the people over the street dog issue would be resolved.
Siluvamma's son Selvan, who was also attacked by the dogs while he was trying to rescue his mother, escaped by jumping into the sea.
"My mother went to the beach in the night. As she did not return, I went out searching for her. What I saw was shocking. She was being attacked by over 100 stray dogs. She was bleeding," Selvan told reporters later.
In the second incident, 52-year-old Daisy said she was attacked by a pack of dogs when she went out of the house at around 11.30 pm.
She was rushed to the government medical college in Thiruvananthapuram and given a shot of anti-rabies vaccination.
Medical college hospital sources said though she had injuries on her hands and legs, her condition was stable. She was shifted to Pulluvila primary healthcare centre for further treatment in the morning, they added.
Stray dogs have been posing a grave threat to the residents, especially women, children and the elderly in coastal stretches, including Pulluvila, for some time.
The issue has been a point of debate for the last few years after increase in incidents of stray dog attacks and it was also raised in the Assembly earlier this year.
According to a report submitted in the Supreme Court recently in a connected case, more than one lakh people in Kerala have been bitten by dogs in 2015-16.
The report was submitted by a committee appointed by the apex court to look into the aspect of treatment of people bitten by stray dogs and claims of compensation in the state.
The report also said Kerala is estimated to have stray dog population of 2.5 lakh, which feed lavishly on the waste and garbage dumps across cities and towns.