Mumbai: Owner booked after German Shepherd dog bites woman in Andheri

Sonali Saldanha had to undergo treatment that included nine injections

A couple heading home after visiting a relative faced a nightmare on the way, when the woman was attacked by a pet dog. The woman, Sonali Saldanha, 45, was bitten on the waist, and had to undergo treatment that included nine injections. The police have booked the Andheri resident who owns the dog.

According to Sonali, who works in a Dubai-based shipping firm, her husband, Alfred, and she had come to Mumbai as his cousin had passed away. On April 10, after meeting the cousin's family in Andheri, Sonali and Alfred were walking home, when a German Shepherd ran out of a building and attacked her.

"I froze as soon as I saw the dog run towards me. I thought it would run past me, but I was wrong," Sonali told the police. She said the dog bit her on the waist and she screamed in pain.

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While Alfred tried to drive it away, hearing Sonali's screams, a resident of the building from where the dog had appeared, rushed out with a stick in her hand. Sonali said she hit the dog with it after which it ran away.

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Alfred took Sonali to the nearest hospital where doctors gave her first aid. However, the next day she had to be taken to Cooper Hospital as she was in pain. Doctors there advised Alfred to take her to KEM Hospital. Doctors from KEM have been treating her but she was not hospitalised.

According to Sonali, the owner of the dog had locked it in a room, but it somehow escaped. She has also learnt that the woman owns two dogs. Sonali claimed a resident of the same building told her that the dog had earlier attacked other people. She then lodged a complaint against the owner of the dog with Andheri police.

Police book dog's owner

An officer from the Andheri police station said, "After the complainant's statement we registered an FIR against the owner of the dog under Section 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animal) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and are investigating the case."

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