A man dressed as a giant stray dog walked into Khandwa’s Collectorate on Monday, turning an otherwise routine public hearing into an unusually vivid protest against the city’s worsening stray dog menace.

Behind the viral spectacle were allegations that Rs 40 lakh had been billed for dog sterilisation even as thousands of people continue to report dog bite incidents. The complaint was raised during the public hearing before Khandwa officials, with protesters alleging that despite the expenditure by the municipal corporation, the stray dog population has not declined and incidents involving dogs continue to trouble residents, particularly children and pedestrians.

A man in a dog suit, a peculiar protest in Madhya Pradesh Collectorate officehttps://t.co/63qWN7chtb pic.twitter.com/El8jmX7bAD

Khandwa Additional Collector Kashi Ram Badole said the administration had received a complaint alleging that a bill of Rs 40 lakh had been issued for dog sterilisation despite no such sterilisation having been carried out. He said the administration had taken up the matter with the Municipal Commissioner and that action would follow if the allegations were substantiated.

“Today some citizens of Khandwa came to the public hearing. They had filed a complaint that here, in the name of sterilisation of dogs, a bill of Rs 40 lakhs has been issued, and no sterilisation has been done of any kind, and till now more than 13,000 people have been bitten by dogs. In this regard, we have spoken to the Municipal Commissioner. Whatever appropriate action is required as per the rules will be taken,” Badole said.

Khandwa Municipal Corporation Leader of Opposition Mullu Rathore said the number of dog bite victims cited in the complaint had reached around 13,225 and alleged that the civic body’s expenditure had failed to address the problem. He said the growing presence of stray dogs was creating difficulties for pedestrians at night and had left children fearful of travelling to school.

“Despite the municipal corporation spending lakhs, the number of dogs is not decreasing but rather increasing…. We received information from the company that won the tender that there has been fraud in it. Today, we have filed an application regarding the dog issue so that some action is taken on this and strict action is taken against those who are guilty,” Rathore said.