PANJIM: On average, 40 cases of dog bite have been reported on a daily basis this year in the State.
The data provided by the Directorate of Health Services (DHS), revealed that a total of 8,700 dog bite cases have been recorded from January to July this year.
As many as 95,902 dog-bite cases have been reported across the State over the last five-and-half years.
As per the report, Goa has witnessed a substantial rise in the number of dog-bite cases. A total of 12,857 cases were reported in the year 2013 after which the State witnessed a 44 per cent rise in dog-bite cases, with a total of 18,585 cases being reported in 2016. From January till May 2017, the State witnessed 9,094 cases of dog bite.
In 2018, the State saw 22,527 cases, in 2019 the dog bite cases recorded were 22,090 cases. During the Covid-19 pandemic the cases dropped significantly. In 2020 the number of dog bite cases recorded were 9,556 and in 2021 it was 9,126. The cases rose again when the Covid- related restrictions were lifted by the State administration. In 2022, a total of 23,903 cases were registered.
This data is gathered by the DHS from cases reported at government hospitals, health centres, private hospitals and private doctors.