A week after dog bite, it is ill-luck that dogs this victim

Poverty coupled with ignorance about the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) helpline stymied medical assistance to a woman who was bitten by a stray dog on her hand and nose at Jnanajyothi Nagar last Sunday.

Even a week after the incident, anti-rabies vaccine could not be administered to her.
Jyothi, 23, a resident of Jnanajyothi Nagar, was on her way to her parents’ house at Mallathahalli on Sunday evening when she was attacked by the dog.

Jyothi fell on the ground when the dog bit her hand. The dog then pounced on her and bit her nose off and also injured her left eyebrow.

She screamed for help, but the ferocity of the dog scared away passersby. Later, some people mustered courage and shooed it away.

She was immediately taken to a private hospital, but her husband, Avinash, could not afford the anti-rabies vaccine. The doctors there advised her to get the vaccine within 14 days.

The poor couple were not told about the BBMP helpline available to assist dog bite victims.

On Saturday, when some news channels aired her story, the Joint Director of the BBMP animal husbandry department, Dr Parviz Ahmad Piran, came to Jyothi’s rescue.

“The dog bite is severe as the injuries are on the face. We have rated it as category-3 bite. If the dog was rabid, then the consequences could be dangerous.

We will provide her anti-rabies serum at our Banashankari hospital on Sunday,” Dr Piran told Deccan Herald.

Residents of the locality complained that the area had a number of stray dogs and the illegal dumping of garbage has only added to the problems. They demanded that the BBMP put an end to illegal dumping of garbage.

Jyothi works at a private college and her husband Avinash is a medical representative.