THURSDAY, JULY 04, 2024
Team Herald
MARGAO: Three tourists including a 56-yr-old American woman and two Indian women from Ghaziabad and Mumbai, both in their thirties fell victim to dog bites at the Benaulim beach.
All three were attacked as they were strolling on the beach.
Stray dogs unleashing a reign of terror here have sparked alarm among local residents and tourism stakeholders alike.
The issue of stray dogs on beaches has also been raised in recent gram sabha meetings of villages located on the Salcete coastline, where the villagers have complained that locals as well as tourists have been at the receiving end of stray dogs trying to charge at them.
In response to these recent incidents, a meeting was convened at the South Goa District Collector’s office with local panchayats and other stakeholders, including representatives from Mission Rabies. The gathering aimed to discuss potential solutions, with a focus on establishing a central dog shelter to address the problem more comprehensively and conducting awareness programmes too. Animal Welfare representatives who had attended the meeting had also defended their actions of feeding stray animals and suggested various that need to be taken as well.
