Of the 256 victims interviewed in three government hospitals, 53% were bitten by pets. Most victims were male ... Read More

CHENNAI: Stray dogs often cop the blame for dog bites and rabies deaths, but a city-based survey of canine bites shows that more than half of the animals involved were pets provoked into attacking their keepers.

Alarmingly, around 60% of these dogs did not receive anti-rabies shots or were pets whose owners did not keep a tab on their vaccinations, the study by Madras Veterinary College shows. Half of the owners did not know their pets' vaccination status, while 13% did not inoculate them at all.

The researchers interviewed 256 dog bite victims, mostly youngsters between 11 and 20 who sought medical intervention at three government hospitals in the city.

“Around 60% of the respondents provoked the dogs,” said Dr S Bharathy , a coauthor of the study , published recently in the peer-reviewed journal ` Advances in Animal and Veterinary Sciences'.

Unlike stray dogs, pets are rarely under the authorities' scanner.

Dogs account for 96.2% of the 20,000 human rabies deaths in India each year, with strays accounting for nearly 63% of rabies-causing bites. A dog census by the corporation in 2014 put the city's population of strays at 82,400.

Rabies spreads when the saliva of infected mammals, mostly dogs, enters the body through a bite or broken skin.Symptoms include violent movements, uncontrolled excitement and fear of water, and death almost always follows.

Researchers found that students were most prone to dog bites, followed by unskilled groups. “Boys, in particular, are more vulnerable as they play outdoor which may frequently bring them in contact with strays,” said Dr Bharathy, adding that higher number of these incidents were reported from Central Chennai, which, incidentally, according to Corporation data, also have higher number of strays. An RTI application by TOI in 2015 revealed that Kodambakkam zone, which includes T Nagar, Vadapalani and Virugambakkam, reported the maximum complaints on stray dog menace over the past four years.

For public health officials another unsettling find in the study is people’s reaction after a dog bite: Only around 50% of them washed their wounds and 48% sought medical help within 24 hours. Director of Public Health Director of Public Health K Kolandaisamy said this is worrying. “Washing the wound with an antiseptic soap in running water is an effective first-aid measure as it will wash away the virus,” he said.

Delay in seeking medical help also reflects poor awareness. “The vaccine will produce antibodies in seven days. The effect of the virus will begin showing in ten days. Delay in treatment is the cause of most deaths,” he said, adding that the state spends Rs 20 crore a year for vaccines. Official records show that 41 people infected by the virus died in Tamil Nadu in 2015, up from 24 in 2013.

Dr B Sekar, director of Pasteur Institute, one of the oldest vaccine manufacturing public sectors, said pet owners are safe and don’t require vaccination if their dogs are confined to their houses and are inoculated once a year. “Sometimes even of the dogs are vaccinated, they may be vulnerable to rabies as their antibody level may have gone down. Owners have to keep an eye on them,” he said.

