Dogs killed after attacking survivors at relief shelters

CIVIC workers have been ordered to kill packs of stray dogs that have been attacking tsunami survivors in some of the worst-hit areas of southern India, officials said yesterday.

At least 30 dogs were killed yesterday in the coastal town of Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu state after they attacked people, including children, at relief shelters.

Stray dogs are common in cities and towns in India. But the dogs seen around almost every relief centre are particularly aggressive, especially when food is being distributed to tsunami survivors.

It is believed the behaviour of the dogs changed after they ate corpses washed ashore after the tsunami struck the region, said Shantha Sheela Nair, the top official in charge of relief work in the district.

“In the early days after the tsunami, the dogs had been eating animal carcasses and human bodies. The corpses have been cleared, but the behaviour of the dogs has changed,” she said.

“The dogs have been attacking people, especially children. They have been moving around like a pack of wolves and people were terrified after some of them were attacked.”

Ms Nair said the dogs’ behaviour is further traumatising tsunami victims already in shock.

“At night their howling scares the children. We don’t want people to be traumatised further,” she said.

Other officials said animal welfare groups had agreed to the elimination of the strays.