An eight-year-old girl died after being mauled by a pack of dogs in Sitapur district, taking the toll to 14 in such fatal attacks by feral hounds in the last six months, police said.

The victim, Sonam, had gone to the fields with her father and cousins on Thursday morning to attend nature’s call when a pack of stray dogs attacked her, Station Officer (SO) of Khairabad police station, Sachin Singh, said.

She was bitten on her neck and thighs by the dogs before she was rescued by her father, Singh said, adding that the girl’s cousins climbed a tree to save themselves.

The minor was rushed to the district hospital where she succumbed to injuries on Friday, the SO added. She was a resident of Khairampur village.

With Sonam’s death, eight children have killed by the stray dogs this month alone.

In a statement issued last night, Sitapur District Magistrate, Sheetal Verma, said that the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and Humane Society of India had confirmed that Sonam and others were attacked by feral dogs and not some wild animals like wolves.

The statement said that a helpline had been set up, which the residents could call to give information about stray dogs.

Around 22 villages in Khairabad block of the district are affected by the dog menace. A total of 164 district officials have been tasked with spreading awareness in the affected areas about the stray canines and ways to protect children from them.

The administration was not facilitating dog killings and had instead taken measures to check their population in affected areas, the statement said.

“We have established an animal birth control clinic for dogs in Sitapur where canines from these areas are being sterilised,” it said.

Residents have also been advised against allowing children to venture out alone to mango orchards, since it is where most of the attacks have taken place.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had visited Sitapur district last week and met families of children who had been attacked by the feral dogs.

He also met two injured children at the district hospital and stressed the need to launch a drive against the strays which had turned violent.

Earlier on May 13, Three days after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met the families who had lost their children to feral dogs in Sitapur, a 12-year-old girl was mauled to death by a pack of dogs. She was the 13^th victim.

The incident had taken place in Maheshpur village under the Khairabad police station, police said.

On May 11, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath had said an awareness campaign should be launched against the feral dog attacks in Sitapur district. Yogi was on a visit to Sitapur to review the situation caused by the feral dog menace.

Shortly after reaching Sitapur, the chief minister made his way to the district hospital where he met the injured children. He next went to the Gurpaliya village where he met the family members of such children who were attacked and killed by feral dogs.

Speaking to presspersons, Yogi Adityanath said that reports since November last year had started coming in about the dog menace assuming alarming proportions. He said he dispatched the minister in charge of Sitapur district (Dr Rita Bahuguna Joshi) and a team of experts from Mathura, Bareilly and Lucknow to find out the facts. It was found that the dogs were not domesticated but were very aggressive.

The CM said he visited the district hospital where two children are presently admitted. He later went to the village to meet the parents of the two children who had been killed by the dogs. Family members of the remaining 10 children killed by the dogs also met him.

Earlier this month, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court sought to know from the state government what steps it had taken to tackle the Sitapur feral dog menace. The state government was directed by the court to submit its response within a month.

A division bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Abdul Moin passed this order on a PIL ( public interest litigation ) filed by a local lawyer seeking directions to ensure identification and elimination of man-eater dogs and thereby protect the lives of innocent children and people at large.

(With PTI inputs)