Kochi: Amid a debate in Kerala over increasing stray dog menace, a state minister today said strong measures would be taken to get rid of canines creating havoc on streets.

There is no legal hindrance for killing violent stray dogs. Lives of the citizens are of prime importance for a government, Minister for Local Self Governance K T Jaleel told reporters in Nedumbassery near here.

Two days after a 65-year-old woman became the latest victim of the stray dog menace in Kerala, Jaleel asked the local bodies to take strong steps to put an end to the problem in their area.

The government will go ahead with the strongest action (to end the menace), he said. Siluvamma was attacked by a large pack of dogs on the Pulluvila beach in Thiruvananthapuram last week and succumbed to injuries while being rushed to a hospital.

In another incident last week, Daisy, a native of Pulluvila, was attacked and severely injured by stray dogs. The 52-year-old woman was rushed to the Government Medical College in Thiruvananthapuram and given a shot of anti-rabies vaccination.

Hospital sources said though she had injuries on her hands and legs, her condition was stable. Stray dogs had also attacked the people who had come to the woman’s rescue. Wandering stray dogs have been posing a threat to people, especially women, children and the elderly in coastal stretches in Kerala for some time.

The issue has been a point of debate in Kerala for the last few years after an increase in incidents of stray dog attacks and 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.

It also said Kerala is estimated to have a stray dog population of 2.5 lakh, which feeds lavishly on the waste and garbage dumps across cities and towns.

PTI