NAWABSHAH, Oct 5: The scary scene of groups of stray dogs freely roaming about the town’s streets fighting with each other or barking at the passers-by has almost become a part and parcel of daily life with no serious efforts either by town municipal administration or the health department to rid the town of this menace.

Their presence in such a large number becomes even more frightening in the absence of anti-dog bite vaccines in the public and private hospitals with reports of a number of deaths in the town from rabies, a brain damaging disease caused by dog-bite.

People returning home in late hours after attending night duties and those going to mosques for Isha and Fajr prayers, especially during the holy month of Ramazan, become an easy prey to the dogs that often do not even flinch from attacking them.

There are growing complaints about stray dogs attacking passers-by and commuters in Manuabad, Essarpura, Gharibabad, Bhangwar Colony, Medical College Hospital, Taj Colony, Mohini Bazaar, Maryam Road, Hussaini Road, Ghulam Hyder Shah Colony, Police Lines, Mehran Colony and Railway Colony.

Sources in the government hospitals, which were always running short on anti-rabies vaccines put the blame on the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad for short supply. The institute supplied them the vaccine after several reminders, the sources said.

People of the town complained that the town municipal administration and the health department had thus far failed to launch an effective anti-stray dog campaign. So far they had been passing buck to each other, they said.

The TMA and the health department did not even admit the existence of the problem of stray dogs not to mention of taking notice of deaths from rabies, they said.

Sources in the TMA said that the administration lacked staff required to kill the dogs.