By Brij Khandelwal Agra, April 18 : An alarm has been raised in the Taj city and neighbouring districts after a series of violent attacks by stray dogs, leading to deaths. Citizens groups in Agra, Mathura, Firozabad have demanded drastic action against violent and aggressive dogs to contain the growing canine menace. Already these cities are facing a huge simian menace. The Agra municipal corporation estimates that there are more than 60,000 dogs in the city. Each day 500 cases of dog bites are reported. In the past six months, more than 10,000 dogs have been sterilized. Dr Ajay Singh, animal welfare officer said the target is to sterilize 60,000 stray dogs. The family members of the victims said the dogs had turned aggressive and violent. The people were feeling terrorised and were even scared to walk on the roads. Recently a two-year-old girl was brutally mauled and killed by dogs in the Malpura area. In Aligarh, a doctor on a morning walk was fatally mauled by a herd of aggressive dogs. The university administration has formed three teams of dog-catchers from the Aligarh Nagar Nigam. Over a dozen dogs were caught. The Nagar Nigam teams of dog-catchers will carry out more dog-catching drives in residential halls, including the Abdullah Hall of Residence for girls. Dr Abedi said the dog-catcher teams carried out their operation in the areas covering Sir Syed House, RCA Hostel, Department of Wildlife Sciences, MM Hall, and Medical Colony. He said that the Nagar Nigam authorities have assured that dog-catching operations will be carried out on the university campus periodically and all possible help will be provided to the university administration. While animal rights activists resist action against stray dogs and appeal to people to feed them regularly, the ordinary citizens of the cities want them killed. This issue is being vociferously raised in the campaign to local bodies elections now underway. The cities in the Taj Trapezium Zone are facing a huge, bovine, canine, and simian menace, threatening human life, says social activist Mukta Gupta. To compound the problem is the news that the district hospitals are running short of anti-rabies injections. The municipalities must wake up to the emerging threat, Mukta adds. /IANS