Minor boy, mauled by six dogs, fights for life at NICH

Larkana, much like the rest of the province, has reported an upsurge in the number of dog bite cases

KARACHI: A minor boy was brought to the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) in critical condition on Friday, a day after he was mauled by at least half-a-dozen dogs.

The victim, six-year-old Hasnain Bughio, son of Ghulam Hussain, was attacked on Thursday by a pack of stray dogs near his home located in Habib Bughio village, some five kilometres from Larkana city.

Rescued by villagers, Hasnain was brought to the Chandka Medical College Hospital, Larkana, in critical condition. "He was unconscious when we found him among the dogs," narrated his uncle, Saddam Bughio. "He was brutally attacked and his face is badly disfigured."

Owing to the severity of the injuries, the doctors in Larkana referred the injured child to Karachi after administering first-aid. Speaking to The Express Tribune, Saddam said that Hasnain was first taken to Indus Hospital, from where he was referred to the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Institute of Trauma at the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital. There too, the doctors refused to treat the case and referred the family to the NICH. "We were told that his treatment was not possible at the hospital," said the victim's uncle. "We were referred to the fourth hospital in a day," he added.

18,000 dog bite cases reported in 2018

Later in the afternoon, the NICH doctors said that the boy was in critical condition and was under observation, adding that the best treatment was being provided to him.

Situation in Larkana

Larkana, much like the rest of the province, has seen a surge in the number of dog-bite cases. Recently, the Sindh High Court also took notice of the uptick in the cases and ordered the Sindh government to take immediate steps to control the population of stray dogs.

According to statistics collected by officials of the Dog Bite Centre in Larkana, which is not more than a small room in the Commissioner's Office, over 13,000 cases of dog bite have been reported from the five districts of Larkana division since October 1.

Of these, around 3,000 cases were reported in Larkana city in the month of October alone. "We have enlisted over 1,400 cases in the last 15 days," Dr Noor Din Qazi, the in-charge of the centre, told The Express Tribune.

"We deal with at least 100 cases on a daily basis," Dr Qazi continued. "There is no dearth of vaccines but we don't stock them at the centre," he explained, adding that the centre was currently being provided 50 vials of the anti-rabies vaccine every day. Each vial has enough vaccine to be administered to two victims.

Meanwhile, the district's health officials told The Express Tribune that despite claims by the district government and the directions of the Sindh government, the drive against stray dogs was not being accelerated. "Kutta muham bhi corruption ki nazar ho gaey [The anti-dog campaign has also been made a victim of corruption]," said one official. "There is fear among the people of Larkana," he remarked, adding that the government was not taking practical measures to get rid of the menace.

Another official said that there was a shortage of ARV earlier, but the supply was ensured after the court orders. "There is no shortage of vaccines but that is not the solution. Why aren't concrete measures being taken against stray dogs? Their population keeps multiplying."

Health minister draws ire

Meanwhile, the provincial health minister, Dr Azra Pechuho, drew flak on social media and civil activists when she advised children not to tease stray dogs. The statement came after the health minister's visit to NICH, where she had gone to see Hasnain after his ordeal was highlighted by the media. "They [stray dogs] attack when they are annoyed," said the health minister, advising people to stay away from stray dogs.

Larkana struggles to provide vaccines as incidence of dog bite cases rises

After meeting with the NICH administration, Dr Pechuho said that Hasnain was in critical condition. "We don't have specialists [in rural Sindh]," she said. "Specialists earn more money from private hospitals and don't want to work outside Karachi," she explained.

The government's plan

On the other hand, the Sindh government claims to have formulated a plan to curb the growing population of stray dogs in the province. "There will be no stray dogs in Sindh after five to eight years," claimed local government secretary Roshan Ali Shaikh, while speaking to The Express Tribune.

According to Shaikh, a grand operation will be launched starting next week to vaccinate stray dogs. "They will also be tagged," he explained, adding that the PC-1 of the project would be presented to the technical committee on Monday.

Shaikh said that in the meantime, the conventional method of killing dogs was also being carried out across the province. "We cannot kill all the dogs. That is a cruel way," he said, adding that Sindh was the first province to launch a modern technique to deal with the issue of stray dogs. "The involvement of government officials in this project would be at the minimum level," he said.

Shaikh said that public awareness is one of the major components of the plan. "We need to understand our attitude towards animals. They react badly when annoyed."

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th, 2019.