Bangalore: Dog bites 8, beaten to death

DHNS

• Two children suffer deep wounds, admitted to hospital

 

Bangalore, 16 November 2011: A stray, rabid dog went on a biting spree on Tuesday attacking eight slum-dwellers at Ashwathnagar near Chokkasandra (Ward 39) in Dasarahalli constituency. Angry residents later chased the canine and killed it.

 

According to Dr Suresh, BBMP veterinary of the Dasarahalli zone, two boys — Manjunath and Shivakumar — both aged eight years, suffered deep bite wounds in the attack. They were shifted from the Mallasandra Government Hospital to the Victoria Hospital for further treatment.

 

Other injured were administered first aid and anti-rabies vaccine at the government hospital. “We successfully completed anti-rabies vaccination (ARV) and anti-birth control (ABC) programmes at Dasarahalli in September this y ear. Nearly 180 dogs were treated under the programme,” Suresh said.

 

“This particular dog, suspected to have rabies, does not belong to this area. It must have crossed its territory by mistake. Rabies makes dogs aggressive, so they go around biting people,” the veterinarian said.

 

Colour-coding

Normally, when a dog undergoes ARV, a BBMP official colour-codes it for identification. To identify dogs covered under the ABC programme, the animal’s ears are cut in ‘V’ shape for identification. In this case, the dog had no such marks. The carcass has been sent to the veterinary hospital in Hebbal for autopsy and the results will be known on Wednesday, Dr Suresh said.

 

If the carcass tests positive for rabies, the Palike will conduct a “booster” programme to ensure all dogs in Dasarahalli are thoroughly vaccinated and sterilised, he said.

 

Dr Parvez Ahmad Piran, BBMP joint director, the Animal Husbandry department, said two boys who were rushed to the Victoria Hospital had suffered bite wounds on the cheek and hand.

 

“The boys are admitted to the hospital as they need to be administered immunoglobulin. The medicine will sometimes have anaphylactic (sudden severe allergic) reactions. So, the boys will have to stay in the hospital till tomorrow,” he added.

 

A dog-bite case has surfaced after nearly five months. This indicates that the Palike’s ARV and ABC programmes have been quite effective, said Piran.

 

The BBMP started the programme in the newly added BBMP areas in 2007. So, it will take another two-three years to stabilise the canine population and curb dog-bite incidents, he added.