Dr Khin Theingi Myint, medical superintendent of the Yangon General Hospital said the number of people who suffered dog bites in October totalled 1394, the highest number recorded in the last three years.





He said the number of patients who sought emergency treatment due to dog bites so far this month has been generally between 50 and 70 a day. Other months with notable increases in dog bites cases were March, with 1079 cases, and September, with 1152.

“The number of people being treated due to dog bites is increasing these days. There are some days when we have to treat over 100 people bitten by dogs,” she told The Myanmar Times.

A total of 8629 people suffered dog bites from January to October this year. Most of the victims were from Dala Township. According to Yangon General Hospital’s records, 25 people have died as a result of rabies since the start of the year.

Last year, a total of 35839 people sought treatment for dog bites in Yangon Region, according to the Public Health Department, topping all states and regions in the number of cases.

Any Yangon resident who suffers a dog bite can get their first dose of rabies vaccine at the hospital, but will have to get their second and third doses of the vaccine at the hospitals nearest them.

“Only mass vaccination of stray dogs with anti-rabies vaccine can minimise the spread of rabies. We need to control the stray dog population,” said Dr Soe Minn, general secretary of Myanmar Veterinary Association.





Last year, a total of 7503 people were treated for dog bites in Yangon General Hospital, with 32 of them dying due to rabies infection.

The problem of thousands of stray dogs in the country’s economic capital has been ongoing for decades now and different measures have been tried to deal with the issue by both the government and animal rights activists.

Measures have included neutering, vaccination and rounding animals up and putting them in shelters. A few years ago the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) regularly conducted poisoning and culling, but the problem persists.

Shelters set up a few years ago to get dogs off the streets are now filled to the brim and some are facing difficulties in obtaining funding for their operations.

The YCDC is currently using five methods to control the stray dogs population in the city: neutering, vaccination, sending dangerous dogs to shelters, poisoning, and promoting responsible pet ownership.

In October, agency also opened a dog shelter in Hlaing Tharyar, with the capacity to house 400 to 500 dogs deemed as dangerous.

The Myanmar Veterinary Association has suggested that YCDC should also spay female dogs in order to control the stray population in the city, as the practise is more effective in controlling the canine population.

YCDC said that during the first six months of the year, it vaccinated 326 dogs and has neutered 286. Last year, the agency vaccinated a total of 460 and neutered 331.

Various non-government groups and animal rights groups estimate that the stray population in Yangon could be around 200,000

Every day, there are at least two or three complaints about stray dogs from the public to Veterinary Department of YCDC.

“If the public complains about stray dogs, we have to get rid of them with poisoning to prevent rabies disease and to reduce the number of dog bite. Ensuring the safety of the public is the main focus for us,” Dr Lwin Min Soe, assistant director from Veterinary Department of YCDC said.

While efforts are being taken by both government and non-governmental agencies, the question still remains whether they can effectively reduce the number of strays in Yangon. In the meantime, it would be best for city folks to just steer clear of strays.