Cops to seek legal opinion on dog bite complaints

BATHINDA: Police here have decided to seek legal opinion whether to register a case or not in a case of dog bites.
Suresh Chander, a resident of Model Town, had complained to Cantonment police station that on Wednesday morning, when he was taking his children to the school, he was bitten by the dog of his neighbour, an advocate. However, even after three days, cops have not filed an FIR, he said.
Suresh Chander said that when he went to the owners of the dog and asked them to tie their dog in the house, they did not listen to him and also misbehaved. On this, he went to police station and gave a written complaint.
"When I went to police to file a complaint, they asked me to get a medico-legal report for registering a case. Accordingly, I went to civil hospital and got a medico-legal report prepared and submitted it to police on Thursday. But police have not taken any action yet against the advocate-couple, whose dog had bitten me."
According to legal experts, in a case of dog bite, a case can be registered under section 110 of Punjab Municipal Act or section 289 of IPC.
"I have also filed an RTI with Bathinda municipal corporation seeking information about the number of pet dogs registered with them, how many of them are vaccinated, what is the status of vaccination of the dog of the advocate-couple, etc.," he added.
SHO of Cantonment police station, Kuldeep Singh, said, "We have got a written complaint from victim Suresh Chander. I have asked the ASI to hold an inquiry. It is a rare type case, so we have to take legal opinion in the case. After the report of ASI, next action will be taken. If the report goes against the owners of the dog, then we will register a case under section 289 of IPC."