An estimated four persons on their morning walk on Napier Museum premises in the city were bitten by a stray dog on Tuesday (November 11, 2025) morning.

The incident occurred around 7.30 a.m. A dog, reportedly from outside the premises, entered the museum compound and bit people who were on their morning walk. It also attempted to attack Museum and Zoo staff, authorities said.

The animal is suspected to have been killed by members of the public.

The police personnel posted on the premises administered first aid to those bitten, they said.

It is learnt that a woman was injured near the museum bandstand on Monday evening while trying to escape a dog.

Corporation veterinary surgeon Sreerag Jayan said the dog squad had captured two dogs and recovered one dead dog from the museum. The dead animal will be taken to the State Institute for Animal Diseases, Palode, for tests to determine if it had rabies. Meanwhile, the captured dogs will be kept under observation to see if they exhibit any symptoms. Both of these dogs had been vaccinated and sterilised, Dr. Jayan added.

It was not immediately clear if the dead dog was the same as the one said to have bitten the morning walkers.

All the dogs on the museum premises had already been vaccinated and sterilised, he pointed out. Some three to four dogs remain to be captured since they dispersed soon after the commotion in the morning. The dog squad will return to the museum to capture them too.

Those bitten should complete the full course of anti-rabies vaccination, Dr. Jayan said.

Museum and Zoo officials said they had written to the city corporation multiple times requesting the removal of stray dogs from the premises. The civic body, meanwhile, claimed it can only vaccinate and sterilise the dogs, and release them at the same spot.

Food waste

Zoo authorities said consumption of food inside the museum compound was aggravating the problem. Food bought from vendors outside the premises is usually consumed inside the museum compound. Food and plastic waste was left behind, not just littering the area but also attracting stray dogs looking for food. The zoo security staff and the police personnel deployed on duty could only do so much to ensure that food remains are not left strewn around. Not much heed was paid to signage urging visitors to desist from littering, they said.

More than 10 to 15 dogs have been seen roaming the premises at various points of time, they said.

Corporation Secretary Jahamgeer S. reiterated that the dogs on the museum premises were sterilised and vaccinated. They were not observed to display violent behaviour either.

The corporation sterilises more than 1,000 dogs every year. There was no huge increase in the stray dog population in the city as compared to other places, particularly in rural areas, due to successful implementation of the Animal Birth Control programme. Only consistent vaccination and sterilisation can help control the stray dog population.