Ghaziabad: A pack of stray dogs made its way up to the sixth floor of KW Sristhi society in Rajnagar Extension and roamed the common corridor for nearly an hour, alarming residents. Locals said this was not an isolated incident, and strays have been known to reach even the 10th floor, apparently looking for food. On Friday, residents shared CCTV footage of the dogs loitering in the sixth-floor corridor and demanded a lasting solution to the problem.“I live on the sixth floor and there are 10 flats on my floor. On Friday, a pack of dogs chased another dog which must have strayed into their territory up to my floor and cornered it near my flat’s gate. Initially, I heard a growling sound, and I went to check footage, and to my shock, I saw a group of aggressive dogs growling and attacking another dog. They must be about ten in number. We had no option but to wait for about an hour for the dogs to leave before anyone could get out,” Poonam, a resident of the society, said.The society has 10 towers, two of which are 21 storeys high.“Dogs have been seen as high as the 10th floor. They come in packs, ransack the dustbin and create all sorts of nuisances and get back. No matter how hard you try to shoo them away, they won’t budge, and given their aggressive behaviour, we can’t dare to step out,” Yamini Vats, another resident, said.Residents say there’s little they can do to fix the problem.“The dog issue is very sensitive even though there is a policy on dogs. Many of us won’t get into it because in the past we had very bad experiences. There are FIRs lodged against us. The other day, an elderly woman who just had a knee operation was attacked by dogs and she fell. She had to be taken to hospital,” an RWA member said.Another RWA member said there are around 30-35 strays around the society. The resident said GMC has claimed to have launched a sterilisation drive, but it has shown no effect. “We continue to suffer, sometimes our children come back home with dog bites and sometimes we do,” the resident added.The municipal corporation, meanwhile, said that they are in the process of making each ward free of stray dogs.“We have achieved 100% sterilisation in Sector 100. In RNE township, we have sterilised all dogs in the Migsun Roof society, while the drive is ongoing for the rest,” a GMC official said. “As far as complaints over dog bites are concerned, there is also an aggressive dog policy in place, and anyone can lodge a complaint with us, and GMC will take care of it, so we urge residents to at least lodge an official complaint with us.”As per a 2021 stray census conducted by GMC, the city has around 48,000 strays. Estimates show the number is likely at around 65,000 this year. Between April 1, 2025, and March 31 this year, the GMC has sterilised 10,137 dogs. In total, 47,099 strays have been sterilised so far.
