HYDERABAD: A visit to Hyderabad’s Fever Hospital in the morning is not a pleasant sight. The only hospital in the city that treats dog bite victims, the building’s corridors echo with the wails of numerous young children, unable to bear the pain of being bitten. On a daily basis, the Fever Hospital caters to anywhere between 70-90 cases of dog bites.
“While this is an issue every year, the incidents have increased quite a bit in the past couple of weeks,” Dr K Shankar, superintendent of Fever Hospital said. The cases range from small bites to even mangled faces and body parts. Patients from across the state and rural areas come to the hospital, as it is one of the very few ones that have immunoglobulins required to treat dog bites. It is also important to note that dog bite cases should be treated within 24 to 48 hours.
Also, the procedure to administer the vaccine is not only complex, but very painful. “Immunoglobulins are administered with an anti-rabies vaccine. The patient’s body mass is measured and then the immunoglobulin is proportionately injected,” Dr Shankar explained.
Sitaram Das, honourary president of Federation of All Colonies resident Welfare Association, says, “In areas around Manikonda, stray dogs have made lives miserable for residents. Unfortunately, we do not fall under GHMC administration. We have submitted multiple representations to GHMC on this matter, but the requests have fallen on deaf ears.”
Naturally, residents, doctors and animal welfare activists have pointed fingers at GHMC for not being able to tackle the issue. However, Dr Venkateshwara Reddy, GHMC chief veterinary officer assures, “This is an annual issue. Dogs are irritable due to unavailability of food and water, as well as the soaring temperatures. We are constantly conducting awareness programmes, anti-rabies, sterilization and de-worming drives. We have 4-5 vehicles in each zone and an emergency vehicle with a veterinarian.”
Barking up the wrong tree?
It is easy to blame the dogs and throw them out of the colonies. However, is this the right way to tackle the issue? “During summer, dogs get dehydrated and irritable. People can keep bowls of water outside for the dogs. Small steps ho a long way,” says Priyanka Nagam, a canine trainer
Sangareddy
‘Duty doctors unwilling to attend to patients’
Dogs across erstwhile Medak have been undiscriminatingly attacking denizens of all age groups, often leading to severe injuries. The locals are alleging that even though the government was supplying the requisite medicines to the hospitals, the duty doctors are unwilling to take up dog-bite cases. They are apparently referring such cases to hospitals like Gandhi and Osmania, which are situated in Hyderabad. Recently, three engineering students were brutally attacked by street dogs in Medak town, out of whom the condition of one student had become quite serious. However, rather than give him immediate treatment, he was instead shifted to Hyderabad for better treatment.
Adilabad
No steps to control dog population after 2012 census
The denizens of Adilabad have been pointing fingers at the authorities for failing to tackle the stray dog menace. On an average, each primary health centre in the district records at least two cases per day. In January this year, 3-year-old Jada Sindhu died in Kagaznagar following a rabid dog attack. This was hardly an isolated incident, as numerous such cases took place before and after this. The villagers claim though they have submitted numerous complaints regarding the menace, panchayat officials have not taken any steps to counter the situation. In fact, no steps have been allegedly taken to control the population of the dogs after the animal census in 2012.
Nalgonda
Of all plaints, just 2 were of actual bites: officials
As dogs continue to display aggression to citizens walking on the streets, numerous complaints have piled up at the municipal office. Based on these complaints, the authorities have reportedly already killed about 10 stray dogs in various wards in the last month, by injecting poison into them. Some dogs were shifted to the veterinary hospital for treatment and have been kept in separate sheds. According to officials, there were only two complaints of actual dog bites in the town. Most of the complaints are, in fact, about dogs creating nuisance and scaring pedestrians.
Nizamabad
NMC turning a blind eye to town’s canine menace?
Incidents of dog bites have been increasing day by day in Nizamabad town. However, it would seem that the Nizamabad Municipal Corporation (NMC) is hardly interested in addressing the issue. As has been admitted by NMC Municipal Commissioner Dr K Johan Samson, the corporation does not even have a dog-catching team as of now. The issue is currently being handled by that sanitation staff. “We have forwarded a report to the higher officials, asking them to sanction enough staff so that we can constitute a dog-catching team in the NMC limits,” the commissioner said. According to the Nizamabad GGH superintendent Dr Ramulu, an average of 25 to 30 street dog bite cases are reported at the hospital every day.
Mahbubnagar
333 people attacked by stray dogs in just 17 days
As many as 333 people have been attacked by stray dogs in just 17 days in Mahbubnagar district. There have been an average of 6-10 cases reported every day in PHCs, CHCs, area and district hospitals across the district. The health officials have ensured that adequate quantities of vaccines are available in the district headquarters and are being supplied to the PHCs, CHCs and Area Hospitals on demand. “During the past few days, we have been getting requests from various government hospitals for the supply of more anti-rabies vaccines. We are supplying the vaccine accordingly. There is no dearth of it in the district,” said central drug stores in-charge M Govardhan.
Warangal
Warangalmgm hospital ATTENDS to 71 DOG BITE CASES IN a DAY
Thanks to the lackadaisical approach of municipal corporation authorities, stray dog bite incidents are on the rise in Warangal city and surrounding villages. One could gauge the seriousness of the problem by the fact that MGM Hospital received 71 cases of dog bites from Warangal city and surrounding villages, on June 4 alone. According to doctors, the hospital was receiving an average of 50 cases of dog bites every day. Last year, the hospital received around 18,000 cases of dog bites. So far this year, the number has already touched 6,000. “There is not a single day when we do not receive dog bite cases in hospital,” a duty doctor stated. The authorities have assured that they have enough anti-rabies injections in stock.
Karimnagar
Civic officials in district to launch birth control programme for dogs
The authorities of the Municipal Corporation of Karimnagar (MCK) have come up with numerous initiatives to control the birth of dogs through an Animal Birth Control programme. Part of this programme involves the renovation of dog sheds at the veterinary hospitals in Karimnagar, to keep them in sheds after the castration. MCK commissioner M Bhadraiah told Express that the birth control programme for dogs would be launched in coordination with the veterinary department. Nearly 32 dog sheds have been constructed by the MCK at Veterinary hospital.
“For the castration of the dogs, the MCK will be providing facilities to the veterinary department and also inviting expert staff from GHMC,” Bhadraiah said. As per a study conducted by the veterinary department, about 10,000 stray dogs are there in the 50 divisions of the district, including the recently-merged eight villages. T Kiran Reddy, Veterinary Assistant Surgeon, said that castrations are being performed on four dogs per month at present.