Ludhiana: Animal rights activists staged a protest outside the residence of Atam Nagar MLA Kulwant Singh Sidhu, demanding protection for aggressive street animals despite a surge in horrific dog attacks on children across Punjab.
The demonstration followed the circulation of a social media video in which the lawmaker instructed residents to stop feeding stray dogs outside homes, escalating a bitter regional debate between civic safety advocates and animal handlers.
Activists marched from Kochar Market Chowk to the legislator's private residence, chanting slogans against municipal management and demanding animal feeding zones alongside enhanced sterilisation. Protesters alleged that municipal teams had begun dumping captured street dogs illegally into unpopulated areas outside town limits.
The demonstration underscores the deep administrative paralysis over Punjab's escalating stray canine crisis, which continues to yield fatal consequences for local youth. Recent civic audits and medical records highlight an increasingly violent environment, including an incident in Mullanpur Dakha near Ludhiana where a pack of stray dogs mauled an 11-year-old child to death. Similar horrors have played out regionally; in the Kaulpur village area of Mukerian, a 10-year-old girl was set upon and bitten severely while walking to a local market, requiring emergency intervention to save her life.
In the lawmaker's absence, his son, Yuvraj Singh, attempted to defuse the protest, claiming the viral video was stripped of context. He stated the MLA had not enforced a blanket feeding ban but requested that residents stop feeding animals on neighbours' private property and vehicle parking spots, urging them to use secluded, designated spaces instead.
A formal administrative review between the activist groups and the lawmaker has been scheduled to resolve the public safety dispute.
