Stray dogs maul 18-month-old baby

Rehana, the child, was admitted to Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) Hospital in V V Puram with wounds ranging from deep bites, gashes and lacerations, forcing emergency medical attention, including multiple stitches on her scalp and face.
After the incident, the baby girl was rushed to a local clinic, and she was later referred to KIMS because of the severe injuries. Doctors, however, said Rehana was out of danger, and was treated as an outpatient. They said that the infant was given horse blood as her parents could not afford to purchase human blood.

“There were more than 10 bites on the girl’s body and she had to be administered haemoglobin derived from horse-blood,” said a doctor who attended to Rehanna. To prevent Rabies, the doctors have now asked her parents to administer vaccines on a regular basis to be taken from the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

While Rehana was attacked at 10.30 am, she could get treatment only in the afternoon when her parents brought her to the hospital. Her vitals were stable when she was brought in, said the doctor.  Meanwhile, the Palike was clueless even till 11.30 pm about the incident. The control room was unable to provide an answer whether a complaint was registered with regard to the incident or not.

Wednesday’s incident has once again brought the City’s much talked about stray dog menace back to the fore.

Lasting solution

Several incidents in the past had highlighted the need to bring a lasting solution to the problem. On December 14, 2008, a canine had run amok biting five children and three adults at Vidyaranyapura’s Sapthagiri Layout. The dog, whose attack brought back memories of a similar episode at Chandra Layout six months before, was later killed by local residents.

With several Bangaloreans, especially children, falling prey to stray dogs, the matter had even reached the High Court. One of the petitioners had claimed that the sterilisation of dogs had not ended the menace. Instead, sterilised dogs had become more ferocious as proven by the increased attacks, said the petitioner.