Malappuram: A pack of stray dogs attacked an LKG student on his way back from school on Tuesday at Nilambur in Malappuram district.

Sayan Mohammed (5), son of Manipparambil Navas from Nilambur, was injured in the attack.

Three strays attacked the child around 50 m away from his home. Sayan's grandmother, who was accompanying him, and local residents who were playing football nearby saved the child in time and prevented grievous injuries.

Sayan was admitted to the Nilambur district hospital and soon after brought to Manjeri Medical College Hospital due to the unavailability of medicines for the class three injury at the district medical facility.

The child suffered injuries on the face and body. However, the injuries were not critical; he is now undergoing treatment.

A pack of stray dogs killed a spotted deer on June 11 near the KTDC hotel at Nilambur.

Attacks reported across the state
Various incidents of stray dogs attacking people are being reported across the state of late. Just a few days ago. In a shocking incident, 10-year-old Nihal, a student with a disability, was mauled to death by a pack of street dogs in his neighbourhood in Muzhappilangad of Kannur district. Child rights panel sought a report on the same. On Thursday, a UKG student narrowly escaped a similar attack, reported Manorama News. 

In Thrissur, a woman and her daughter were attacked on Monday when the two were out for shopping. The duo are currently under treatment. Manorama News reported that on Wednesday, 16-year-old Enphino of Chiyyaram lost his three teeth and sustained injuries on the face after dogs chased his bicycle while returning home from his tution centre. Social media is flooded with various such instances of street dogs attacking children and even of chasing adults.

ABC programme, a failure
In September last year, the state government had launched a vaccination drive and instituted Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres after around 19 people lost their lives following dog bites. However, the programmes were not implemented effectively.

For instance, Muzhappilangad panchayat president T Sajitha recently said that neither the ABC programme was implemented nor shelter homes were set up for stray dogs in the local body, despite raising the issue of stray dog meance with the district collector.  

The reasons often cited by the authorities for the failure of ABC are the opposition of locals, lack of funds, enough doctors and facilities.