Pet Dog Mauls 8-Year-Old In Odisha Capital; Banished From City After Police Complaint

Bhubaneswar: A pet dog was banished from Odisha capital following a complaint against the owner of the American Akita at Infocity police station here after it allegedly attacked an eight-year-old boy. The incident took place on November 6 evening.

According to sources, the victim named Arjun Khatei, son of Sucheta Mohanty Khatoi of Tapaswini Colony in Patia, was brutally attacked by the pet dog while he was riding his bicycle and was rushed to a private hospital in critical condition.

The minor boy sustained seven wounds on his body, including on his back and stomach. His mother pointed out that he suffered  category III bite in the attack.

“Arjun was admitted to a private hospital. After an ultrasound was conducted, he underwent surgery for 25 minutes and received 10 stitches, along with 30 injections followed by cauterisation of each wound and anti-rabies vaccines,” she said. Thereafter, he remained under observation for 24 hours in the paediatric intensive care unit (ICU).

On basis of Sucheta’s complaint, police on Wednesday filed a case against the owner of the dog under Section 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animals) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The hospital authorities also submitted the medical report of the injured boy to the police.

The minor boy’s parents and the owner of the American Akita breed dog Shrabani Patnaik were also called to the police station to peacefully resolve their issues. Two other victims of the colony, who were allegedly attacked by the same dog in the past, also accompanied the boy’s parents to the police station.

The police then asked Patnaik to write an undertaking stating that she would relocate the dog to a shelter home by Wednesday 1 pm following which her brother Badri Patnaik shifted the canine from the colony at 3 pm on the same day. “To make sure that no one in the colony is hurt due to the dog, I have decided to shift the dog. I am deeply saddened by what the victims had to go through. I have no complaints against them,” he told the media.

It is pertinent to mention here that while Khatoi alleged the dog has always been very aggressive and claimed this was not the first time the dog had attacked someone, the owner said that her pet is trained and reacted after the boy’s cycle fell over him and not on purpose.

Kept as a guard dog, the Akita is a powerful, independent, and dominant breed, commonly aloof with strangers, but affectionate and deeply loyal to its family