Since the beginning of the year, the regional children's hospital in Mykolaiv has received more than 200 complaints about dog and predator bites

During 2023, the Mykolaiv Regional Children's Clinical Hospital received 208 complaints about cases of dog and predator bites.

These statistics were presented by the chief doctor of the medical institution Oleksandr Plitkin on the air of the «MART» TV channel.

Children were mostly bitten by dogs they already knew — 141 cases, he emphasizes. At the same time, 10 cases of bites by foxes, rats and squirrels were recorded.

— I will probably surprise you, but in 2022 we received 95 complaints about dog bites. This year we already had 208 such appeals, and it is not over yet. Almost every day, and sometimes several people a day contact us about dog bites. I want to tell you that out of 208 children, 141 were bitten by a dog they knew: either a domestic one or from the yard. Another 57 children were bitten by unknown dogs. That is, the dogs that are nearby pose a threat here. Moreover, another 10 children who were bitten by rats, foxes, and squirrels passed through us, — Oleksandr Plitkin said.

We will remind that as of May 2023, in Mykolaiv, two appeals from people who were bitten by animals with rabies were registered within five months. At the same time, 18 such cases were recorded in the Mykolayiv region during the same period of time.

Previously, it was reported about recorded cases of rabies outbreak in 7 settlements of the Mykolaiv region.

It is also known that from January to September 2021, 23 people applied to the communal enterprise «Center for Animal Protection» of the Mykolayiv City Council with complaints about being bitten by stray dogs.