Lucknow, May 10 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court today asked the Uttar Pradesh government to spell out the steps being taken up to curb the menace of feral dogs which has claimed the lives of 12 children in Sitapur district since last November.

The Lucknow bench of the court took cognizance of the repeated incidence of such attacks in Sitapur. However, it was felt that the problem may not be limited to Sitapur but may exist in other parts of the state as well.

The bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Abdul Moin passed the order on a PIL moved by a local lawyer.

It granted a month's time to the state government to place its report before the court fixing July 4 as the next date of hearing.

In the PIL, the petitioner had sought identification and removal of "man-eating" dogs thereby protecting the lives of innocent children and people. The petitioner had demanded compensation to the families of victims of dog attacks.

Hearing the petition, the court said, “In the recent past, repeated reports have been coming that in Sitapur feral dogs have killed at least a dozen children and caused injuries to many more. The problem of feral dogs targeting young and small children may not only be confined to Sitapur but could be a state-wide problem”.

Accordingly, the court directed state authorities to submit a response to the PIL placing on record a wholesome policy as to how this menace was to be tackled.

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