Panaji: Last week’s dog attack that led to the death of a 19-month-old Anabiya Shaikh at Ponda prompted a team of education officers from Mission Rabies to assess the situation and raise awareness in the local community. Their assessment revealed several concerning environmental and social conditions that may have contributed to the tragedy.
“It was very sad to know about the dog bite incident... In this case, the child was unattended and not supervised, so the child reached the road on her own and most probably touched the dog on the road and was bitten to death,” they stated.
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During the visit, the team observed a high population of stray dogs in the area. Open garbage dumps near residential pockets appear to be acting as breeding grounds for the strays. The village is densely populated, with congested housing that allows for close interactions between humans and animals. Additionally, the team noted that the lack of adult supervision was a major contributing factor in the child’s death.
As part of their intervention, the Mission Rabies team conducted awareness sessions for residents, especially children, educating them on safe interactions with dogs and immediate steps to take in the event of a dog bite. Information on rabies and its prevention was also provided.
During the visit, the team met with Sandhya Munde, an ASHA worker at the local child and woman development centre. She was encouraged to actively educate parents on child supervision and to report any unusual animal behaviour to the authorities.
Murugan Appupillai, India director of education at Mission Rabies, outlined several measures to prevent similar tragedies. These include local municipalities and panchayats implementing mandatory dog registration to curb abandonment and track stray populations. Children must be supervised at all times, especially in areas with a known stray dog presence. Authorities should urgently improve food waste disposal systems to reduce stray dog dependency on open garbage, followed by coordinated animal birth control (ABC) programmes.
“Mission Rabies shall further intensify education on dog bite avoidance and dog bite management in these vulnerable areas,” Appupillai said.