Stray dog menace in University: Vice-Chancellor held emergency meeting to counter it

PATIALA: The Punjabi University, Patiala, swung into immediate action with the Vice-Chancellor, Professor BS Ghuman calling an emergent meeting of the concerned authorities over the 'reportedly increasing' cases of stray dog-bites on the University campus. In the last few weeks, a number of stray dog-bite cases among the students had landed in the university.
The University Registrar, Dr Manjit Singh Nijjer, Dean Colleges and Students Welfare Dr KS Dhillon, Director Media Centre Gurmeet Maan, Security officer Gurtej Singh, Coordinator NSS Paramvir Singh, Medical Officer Dr Regina, Executive Engineer MS Sidhu and some wardens of the hostels were called for the meeting today.
The meeting explored various options to control the menace while keeping in mind the legal and humanitarian frameworks related to the safety of and cruelty to the animals. The meeting also considered taking stern action against the non-cooperating attitude of some of the residents and students of the university who, under the influence of religious beliefs, feed these animals, including dogs and monkeys assuming it as a 'good omen and helping their destiny'. The meeting pondered over the immediate as well as permanent solutions to this 'human threatening nuisance' including taking the help of district administration and some lawful NGOs.
The Vice-Chancellor took a round of the campus, especially the eating joints which 'exert a pull' on these animals as students feed them to fetch 'good luck' and their owners throw the waste food, easily accessible to them. He fined one of these joints on the spot along with issuing the warning to close it if they continued their ill practices. He also ordered the XEN to conduct fogging on weekly basis to stop the hazard of fast spreading incidents of various kinds of fever. Professor Ghuman also ordered the Security Officer to beef up the security measures and keep a strict surveillance on the spots which were frequented by the furious and ferocious dogs and asked the Dean, students, to ensure safety measures.