What should have been a place associated with treatment and recovery instead became the centre of a disturbing incident when a stray dog was seen wandering through a government hospital campus carrying a severed human leg in its mouth. The shocking sight left patients and visitors visibly shaken and quickly triggered widespread outrage after a video of the episode circulated online, sparking a major controversy in Himachal Pradesh.
The incident occurred at the Super Speciality Hospital in Chamyana, Shimla, where eyewitnesses reported scenes of disbelief as the animal moved freely across the premises with the amputated limb clearly visible. The episode has raised serious concerns about hospital safety standards and highlighted alleged lapses in biomedical waste management at a facility expected to maintain strict hygiene and disposal protocols.
Hospital officials later confirmed that the limb belonged to a patient who had undergone an above-knee amputation in the Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery department on February 19. Following the operation, the amputated leg was reportedly sealed and stored in accordance with biomedical waste guidelines inside a designated waste management complex. The remains were scheduled to be collected and disposed of by an authorised waste-handling agency, Enviro Engineers, as part of the routine disposal process.
However, preliminary findings from an internal inquiry indicate that a critical failure occurred two days later. On the night of February 21, sanitation staff allegedly left the door of the biomedical waste storage facility open and unattended while additional waste was being transferred. Investigators believe a stray dog entered the area during this lapse and managed to pull the amputated limb from a secured disposal bag.
The following day, workers reportedly discovered an empty biomedical waste bag outside the facility and began searching for the missing remains but were unable to locate them. The seriousness of the situation only became evident when the dog was later spotted again on hospital grounds carrying the same limb. Security personnel attempted to recover it, but the animal became aggressive and fled the area.
In response, hospital authorities treated the incident as a case of serious negligence and formed a three-member fact-finding committee to determine accountability and identify procedural failures. The panel includes senior nursing and biomedical waste management officials tasked with examining how established protocols were breached and recommending corrective measures to prevent similar occurrences.
Show-cause notices have been issued to sanitation workers and the supervisor responsible for duty on the night of the incident, with further disciplinary action expected after their explanations are reviewed. The hospital administration has also instructed the sanitation contractor to strictly enforce safety norms related to storage, monitoring and timely disposal of biomedical waste.
The incident has deeply unsettled patients, attendants and hospital staff while drawing public attention to the importance of strict compliance with biomedical waste regulations. It has also intensified scrutiny over operational oversight at a major healthcare institution, raising broader concerns about accountability, hygiene standards and public safety within medical facilities.
