Stray Dog That Bit 8 People In Sector 15, Chandigarh, Declared Rabid

A stray dog that recently bit around 8 residents of sector 15, Chandigarh on Saturday morning has now been declared rabid.

The list of victims include an 87- year- old man who also got injured.  The dog was caught by the civic body. But local residents said that the Municipal Corporation (MC) officials acted too late.

Victims of Stray dog bit

45- year-old Virender Gupta, a rickshaw puller was the first person who was attacked by the dog when he was sleeping in the corridor of the Sector 15-D market early morning. Gupta tried to save himself and pushed the dog after it grabbed his foot. Then the dog attacked another rickshaw puller, Ram Ashish, who was sleeping nearby

The dog also bit Sukhdev Kumar in Sector 15-A on his right leg when he was standing in the market opposite his house. He also tried to push the dog but was injured. Within a gap of 4-hours, the dog bit at least 4 more people.

The other four victims were Mohammad Irshad, who works as a motor mechanic, Chattar Singh, a retired employee from Panjab University; Manoj Kumar, who runs a chemist shop and Kanhaiya, a toilet cleaner. All of them suffered injuries on their legs.

Some of the victims went to the Government Multi-specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, for treatment while other to private clinics. There were some unconfirmed reports of three more people being bitten by the same dog.

Central Research Institute declared the dog rabid – as per The Tribune

The MC sent the brain sample of the dog to the Central Research Institute (CRI), Kasouli for test. Today, the results were out. After testing the dog’s brain sample, they found it positive for rabies.

After receiving the report, B Purushartha, MC Commissioner issued directions to doctors and the MC staff to confirm the victims took treatment properly.

Concerned authorities acting late again!

A joint team of the UT Animal Husbandry Department, Health Department and the MC will ensure the treatment of the victims and sterilization of stray dogs in Sector 15.

MC Joint Commissioner Manoj Khatri said the doctors and the MC staff would ensure that the patients go to a hospital or a dispensary for treatment and complete their course.

“The victims need not panic as they have been given injections. If any patient is not able to go to a dispensary or a hospital tomorrow, doctors will visit them,” he said.

Eight of the 11 patients have been directed to take the anti-rabies vaccine on April 25, May 7 and May 20 at the anti-rabies clinic in Sectors 19 and 38.

Treatment regimen

• The treatment for a dog/rabid bite involves dosage over 28 days.
• Within the first 24 hours, three injections are to be given.
• These are tetanus, immune globulin and anti-rabies vaccine. The first dose of the three injections costs Rs 150 at the civic dispensary.
• The patient is then called for additional four doses of the anti-rabies vaccine after a gap of certain days.

MC to carry out special campaign

After the test report, the MC will again carry out a special campaign in Sector 15 for catching dogs and their vaccination.

Reference: Hindustan Times  & The Tribune

With stray dog bite cases rising in the tricity, and dog lovers stepping in for adoption of stray dogs. It is high time that authorities step up and start taking the stray dog sterilization matter seriously.

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