Little Boy-The Victim of Fails

Kezang went to hospital this morning and was calling me and telling in deep anxious voice that my friend's child was hospitalized. I had heard the news of a young boy being attacked by pack of stray dogs in Khotokha about a week ago. The boy had gone beyond the fence to play when the pack of dogs attacked him. He was rescued by a monk who was passing by. And that boy happens to be my friend Damchoe's three year old son, who is now nursed back to health at Bajothang Hospital. It took 84 stitches on his head, back and arms to close his wounds. The boy is doing well now.

The repaired scalp 

The Dog Issue:

However, it's time we pay serious attention to stray dogs. Some half hearted dog rehabilitation attempts have separated dogs from human population and now many dog-compounds are shut down. Homeless and hungry the abandoned dogs are now roaming forest and villages attacking cattles. And this year alone we have reports of two incidences where humans were attacked- one was in Haa last months and the other my friend's boy. What measures can be taken to reduce the risk of dogs attacking humans? Who should be taking care of this issue? How long should we wait until we start taking action?

Drug Shortage Issue:

Another problem that surfaced today was the shortage of Anti Rabies Vaccine (ARV), which is a must take vaccine for dog bitten victims. Even a smallest wound from dog bite requires this injection and in this case the little boy was bitten by around seven dogs and literally peeled off from head to back. Unfortunately ARV ran out of stock. Tencholing didn't have it, Thimphu only has enough for their patients and was waiting for the new stock to arrive in two weeks. My friends was asked to find it on his own. Medical Shops are handicapped by new policy. 

It was boy's luck that Punakha Hospital had some doses left. He was taken to Punakha for the first dose but there is no guarantee if there will be any left when he goes for the second dose, which is on 17th May. I took the issue to Twitter and I was inspired by the support and concern shown by fellow Bhutanese. Some even offered to send from Delhi and another from Gelephug. Thank you to all the people who answered to my tweets this morning.

In such time we must awake to the reality that something in the system is not going good. Such emergency medications should be readily available in every corner of the country. I am hopeful this concern will be considered seriously by whoever is responsible. And if it's very difficult to pave through tedious Bhutanese procedures then why not allow private pharmacies to sell them?

Wild Dogs and the Gup in Haa

March 30, Kuensel reported a story of a 68 year old man attacked by dogs in Haa, which is a matter of serious concern for the country because the story of shutting down of dog compounds is not isolated to Haa alone. 
One time there was lot of excitement about building dog compounds, and sheltering and feeding every stray dog. Where is that high spirit gone? Perhaps the budget has run out now?  I don't know which organization was behind this but I am already assuming they were after the project money. If there really was genuine concern for dogs or for the society where dogs were a threat then they would have sustained the project throughout. 

Man's Best Friend No More

Packs of dogs are seen in the forest between Thimphu and Dochula, where did they come from? They don't seem normal anymore, they have perhaps regained their wild instincts. If dogs in Haa could hunt cattle and attack humans then dogs roaming the forest anywhere could. 

But what's interesting about the case in Haa is that the Gup is more worried about the meat than Ap Desang's life or the wild dogs.

 “... we’re not sure whether the dogs killed one of the cows, and also doubt that Desang might have gone for the meat and not to save his cow.” (Quote of the Year)

Don't Mess With Me

This cute little dog and I had a bad morning in April last year. I stepped on him and he bit me on my ankle and I had to rush to hospital. I was scared his bite might cause me infection but the poor fella was cool, he knew nothing would happen to him. He didn't visit hospital also. Now, look at him- the price of biting me: lol

Before biting me

and After

Rabies Story- Don't Trust Doctors

If you are bitten by a dog, you should rush to hospital. But don't think TT injection will take care of everything. You must ask for ARV- Anti Rabies Vaccine. That's when your doctor will ask you to observe the dog for next ten days, because they don't want to waste the expensive vaccine if the dog is not infected.
 However, it's your life at stake. You must insist on having yourselves vaccinated, because recent cases in Phuntsholing and Gelephug proved medical theory of wait-for-ten-days wrong. The boy in Phuntsholing dies a week after he was bitten -are you going to wait for ten days now?, and the lady in Gelephug observed the dog for ten days, nothing happened. Three months later she died. Can you trust the theory anymore?
I had my experience a few weeks ago. I came home relaxed having received TT injection and blogged about it. Thanks to my blog, some comments there worried my wife and she insisted me to go back and start ARV, which saved my life, perhaps.
P:S: It's not just dogs, any animal bite must be treated the same. Man in Trongsa died of Rabies because he was bitten by his horse.