21 persons bitten by rabid dog in Mandaue City

The rabid dog, which bit 21 people, died some hours after its capture. Its corpse and head will be subjected to laboratory tests to ascertain that it was infected with rabies..
(CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)

A rabid dog bit 21 persons in Barangay Casuntingan, Mandaue City over the weekend. They were aged 22 to 51 years old.

Casuntingan Barangay Captain Oscar del Castillo along with the barangay tanods searched for the dog Saturday evening and were captured him early Sunday morning.

“We used a policeman’s stick during the operation since we can’t use a firearm against the dog because we might violate the Animal Welfare Act,” del Castillo told Cebu Daily News.

The search for the rabid dog reached Barangay Banilad in Mandaue City, two kilometers away from Barangay Casuntingan.

They placed the sick dog inside the sack. Two hours later, at around 3 a.m., del Castillo noticed that the dog was no longer moving. They found the dog lifeless inside the sack.

Cebu Daily News went to del Castillo’s house in Barangay Casuntingan yesterday where the brown and white-tailed dog was covered with ice and preserved.

Its head was cut off and subjected to a laboratory examination at Mandaue City Health Center to determine if it was infected with rabies.

Del Castillo identified the owner of the dog as a certain Webster “Macoy” Seno, who lives alone at Sitio Mangga in Barangay Casuntingan.

The barangay official said that when they went to Seno’s house, the dog was already feral and ran away, that led to their chase and capture of the dog.

Del Castillo said Seno has no stable income and earns money from collecting garbage.

“He was imprisoned before because of suspected drugs,” the barangay captain said.

Seno will be summoned today in barangay hall for him to answer what he can do for the victims of the rabid dog.

Sudden

Faustino Mante, 49, was biking outside their house in Barangay Casuntingan when the rabid dog bit him.

“I did not notice that there was a dog running here,” Mante pointing the road.

Mante just noticed the brown and white-tailed dog which immediately ran and bit others in the area.

Mante then went inside his house and washed the wound and rubbed it with garlic, an old practice said to neutralize any toxic dog bite.

The 49-year-old painter showed the four bite marks on his left leg. So far, Mante did not notice any infections after the bite.

Mante added that he was not able to go to the doctor and ask for anti-rabies injections since he was still waiting for his wife.

Another victim named, Euphil Fuertes, 21, who works as a Human Resource (HR) officer was on his way home when the rabid dog suddenly bit him.

“I was walking at the corner of Calderohan (Mandaue City). I thought it was just a friend or a person who made joke on my right leg but when I looked back it was the rabid dog biting me,” Fuertes said in Cebuano.

The 21-year-old HR officer immediately went home, cleaned his wound and rubbed it with garlic and bandaged it.

(Read:First aid for animal bites: rabies shots not garlic )

Fuertes threatened the owner of the dog that they will file a complaint against him if he would not shoulder the expenses for the rabies vaccines.

“Of course, this is his liability,” the 21-year-old HR officer told Cebu Daily News.

Even Barangay Captain del Castillo suspected that he had also been bitten by the rabid dog, and showed some marks on his leg.

Del Castillo narrated that the dog tried to attack him by leaping at him but he was able to kick it away, but they both fell down.

Last Saturday, seven victims were brought to Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) and given anti-rabies injections.

Today, the other 14 victims will be given four anti-rabies injections for free at the Mandaue City Health Center.