Pet lovers gatecrash seminar on stray dog menace at Constitution Club

A group of people gate-crashed a seminar on the menace of stray dogs organised by former Union minister Vijay Goel at Constitution Club on Wednesday to registered their protest.

The animal lovers argued with Goel and other seminar organisers, seeking an opportunity to present their views. A video of the ruckus showed two women slapping each another.

Social activist and animal lover Yogita Bhayana alleged the organisers misbehaved with them.

"We wanted to speak our mind. Rather than giving us a platform, they started thrashing us," she alleged.

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Bhayana claimed the organisers had put up hoardings with the face of a "ferocious dog" across the city to promote the seminar. They wanted to discuss something on the line of an "anti-street dog" drive, she claimed.

Goel said in a statement the seminar was held to discuss a solution to menace of stray dog biting people but the "so-called" animal lovers disrupted the seminar.

He said he had booked the Speaker's Hall for the seminar but people of the Constitution Club informed him that MP Maneka Gandhi had also booked the Deputy Speaker's Hall at the same time.

Goel said people attending the other meeting forced their way to the seminar hall and created a ruckus. "One woman climbed on the stage and spoke directly on the mike. There was uproar in the whole meeting. The police had to intervene to handle the situation," he said.

"We are animal lovers, we are not anti-animal. This campaign launched by us should not be considered anti-animal," he said.

Goel said there are 6.40 crore stray dogs in the country according to an estimate.

He said there are more than 6 lakh dogs in Delhi alone.

"Thirty-six per cent of dog bites in the world occur in Delhi. And in Delhi alone in 6 months, more than 1 lakh dog bite cases are coming only in government hospitals," he claimed.

"We all agree on one thing that the number of stray dogs should not increase. There is only one solution for this that these dogs should be sterilized as much as possible," Goel said.