Scars on the back of a four-year-old child who was bitten by a dog on NRS campus Picture by Gautam Bose

A dog in front of the boys’ hostel on the NRS campus Picture by Gautam Bose

As many as 43 strays, including six puppies, were spotted in 90 minutes during a recent visit to NRS Medical College and Hospital, where an eight-year-old boy had been bitten by a dog.

An employee of the hospital said a lactating bitch, which had become irritable since giving birth to three pups a few days before, bit Umar Sheikh, the boy from Murshidabad. The employee’s office is opposite the ticket counter, in front of which the boy was bitten.

Sixteen puppies were found dead outside the nurses’ hostel at NRS last month. Two nursing students who were allegedly seen in a purported video clip beating a puppy to death have been temporarily barred from attending classes.

Here’s what some people who have suffered the dog menace at the hospital had to say on Thursday

An MBBS student who stays at Lady Elliot Hostel for girls on the campus

The dog count at our hostel increases every few months. We feel unsafe walking down the corridors at night. Two years ago, a student had jumped from the first-floor balcony to escape a clutch of chasing dogs. One of the eight dogs that roam around at our hostel has just given birth.

We have been writing to the authorities about the problem. They have installed gates on the staircases to prevent dogs from reaching upper floors but that hardly work. We have blocked the staircases with beds and use elevators.

A final-year student who stays at the boys’ hostel

The dogs at our hostel chase anyone they spot carrying food. Representatives of Swiggy and Zomato are reluctant to deliver food at our hostel because dogs try to snatch packets from them. For several days last month, an ailing and stinking dog had made a corridor in the hostel its home and would often sneak into our rooms. Since the governing body of the hostel did nothing about it, we had to get it treated by an NGO.

A Calcutta Municipal Corporation team did come to pick up dogs but the animals started running helter-skelter, leaving patients and others scared. Dog lovers forced the operation to stop.

Hena Mallick, pavement-dweller

I had given my four-year-old daughter Rani Rs 15 last month to buy a packet of potato chips. On her way back she was attacked by a pair of dogs on the hospital campus. One of them bit her on her back. Just two days ago, a relative of mine was bitten, too.