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As per govt records, dog-bite cases rose by 110 times in 6 years

Thiruvananthapuram: Dog bite cases in the district have spiked within the past five-six years, according to records with the health department. But there is no mention of deaths caused due to dog bites.

The dog-bite cases in the capital rose from 99 in 2012 to 11,581 in 2018 as per data obtained through RTI, an increase of over 110 times in six years! Between 2016 and 2017 three persons had been mauled to death by stray dogs; two at Pulluvila and one at Varkala, however the columns denoting death as per data obtained from department of health under dog bite cases are blank for 2016 and 2017.



In August 2016, a 65-year-old woman named Siluvamma had died of blood loss after she sustained serious dog bite injuries at Pulluivila beach. Massive loss of blood caused by multiple lacerated wounds resulted in the death of Siluvamma, according to medical sources quoting post-mortem report. Siluvamma could have died of hypovolemic shock, an emergency medical condition in which sudden blood loss leads to multiple organ failure, according to medical records. Two months later a 90-year-old man named Raghavan, a resident of Mundayil, Varkala, who was sleeping on the verandah of his house, was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs . In May 2017, a fisherman; Josklin succumbed to injuries following stray dog attack here at Pulluvila.

When asked why deaths because of dog bite were not recorded, the health officials first denied any such occurrence and when pointed out about three such incidents, the officials said that that data would be available in local centres. However, the officials admit that all other data on dog bites have been collected and recorded from local medical centres. Data from assembly records show that three deaths because of stray dog attacks had happened in Thiruvananthapuram since 2015. The health officials said that they had looked into each of these cases but did not give a clear answer as to why deaths due to dog bites never got recorded.

As per the data of health department, dog bite cases touched the peak in 2015 when 17,249 dog bite cases were reported. The numbers had slightly dipped in 2016 and 2017 recording figures of 15,228 and 12,296 respectively. It was around 2016, the local self-government department launched a comprehensive action plan jointly with animal husbandry department to conduct ABC programme. Even the progress of this scheme never got updated since April 2018.

Deaths caused due to rabies infection have come down drastically. There have been 12 rabies cases in the district in the past six years of which 11 affected persons died. 2016 and 2017 did not record any rabies cases in the district.

The authorities have also been in the dark regarding actual number of stray dogs in the district. As per Kudumbashree ABC report, 9,971 stray dogs had been sterilised in the district as in January 2019. The city corporation has so far sterilised 4,500 stray dogs.

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