Former veterinarian from Barysaŭ bitten by a stray dog, but the man didn't go to doctors

Illustrative photo

Andrei (name changed) is a veterinary paramedic by education, although he has been working in a different field for many years. His story is told by "Minskaya Pravda".

— It was the end of the workday. I was returning from work, taking a shortcut through the park. A dog came out of the bushes. An ordinary mongrel, red, with a white spot on its chest. Without a collar. It didn't bark, — Andrei recounts.

He tried to move away in an arc, without turning his back. But the situation was provoked by a random woman with a baby stroller walking nearby.

— The woman loudly shouted: "Oh, a doggie!" — and reached out to pet it. The dog didn't understand this gesture. A loud voice, a sudden movement towards it — it perceived this as the beginning of an attack. And the reflex kicked in: to bite first to defend itself.

The dog lunged and latched onto Andrei's calf.

— It grabbed with a death grip. It didn't tear, but simply clenched its jaws. From a cynological point of view, this is a deterrent bite, not a destructive one. It wanted me to freeze or fall. Not for me to die. I hit it with my bag — zero reaction. I had to step on its lower jaw with my other foot. Only then did it let go. It ran away, limping on its front paw.

— A dog in a stressful situation assesses the distance in a second. That woman was two meters away and behind a stroller, — the man says. — And I was half a meter away, without a barrier. An animal's brain doesn't work like a judicial system: "who is to blame, bite them." It works like lightning: whoever is closer and moving, that's the threat. I found myself between the dog and the source of the noise.

— Why are you so sure it was defense, not aggression?

— It latched onto my leg, it didn't jump at my face. And because it didn't growl once. An angry dog barks, growls, warns. A frightened one is silent and strikes preemptively. It didn't jump out from around the corner.

A key detail: a person with a medical (albeit veterinary) education consciously ignored the mandatory algorithm of actions.

— I didn't go to the doctor because I know this system from the inside. Upon reporting, an emergency message is filled out. It is sent to the center for hygiene and epidemiology. A catch brigade is dispatched. The dog is isolated for 10 days. And then — even if it's healthy — it's not released back onto the street. A stray animal that has bitten a person does not return to its environment.

Andrei admits: the next day he found this dog. It was feeding near the dumpsters behind the store.

— It doesn't have an owner, but it's not aggressive. Just an ordinary mongrel that was guarding its resting place. I accidentally got too close at the moment when it was already in "alert" mode because of that woman with the stroller. I wasn't ready to call for its capture. So I decided to keep silent.

Three days later, Andrei developed a slight fever.

— I panicked, — he admits. — As a veterinarian, I know: for tetanus, the incubation period is up to three weeks, and the first symptoms are fever and pain in the wound. For rabies, it takes months, but you can only be saved within the first 72 hours after the bite. I had already missed that deadline. And if the virus is in me... there are no options. But it was too late to go to the hospital — they would still ask why I didn't come earlier. I bought antibiotics at the pharmacy. I treated the edges of the wound with alcohol…

He sat in his rented room, replaying everything he knew about deadly infections in his head. Tetanus causes agonizing convulsions and respiratory muscle spasms. Rabies, once symptoms appear, is incurable.

Asked about the rabies vaccine, Andrei answers in the negative. The drug must be administered within the first 72 hours — he missed this deadline, and then "decided to take a risk."

— The dog is alive. After 10 days I visually checked — no signs of rabies. So, I'm fine too. But for the first week, I slept with the light on and every two hours checked if I was afraid of water. It was an idiotic risk, I understand…

The man is alive and healthy. The dog is also alive. But Andrei himself calls what happened "positive foolishness" and advises no one to follow his path.

— I'm a former veterinarian, — Andrei says more quietly. — I knew how to stitch wounds and identify symptoms. And even then, I almost panicked. If you're bitten — go to the emergency room at the same time. And don't touch the dog. It's on its own. Just avoid it for a couple of weeks. It will find another place. Or it won't. That's not your problem. I took a risk. I was lucky. Someone else might not be so lucky.

Oleg Karpovich, head of the veterinary department of the agriculture and food committee of the Minsk Regional Executive Committee, explained what is considered dangerous contact with a stray animal.

— The worst are bites and scratches, — Oleg Karpovich explains. — But you shouldn't relax even if a dog just licked you. There can be microcracks on your hands or feet, through which the virus can easily enter the body. Therefore, you also cannot pet stray animals: they often lick themselves, and saliva remains on their fur.

If unwanted contact still occurred, first of all — consult a medical institution, preferably within 24 hours. The doctor will assess the risk and, if necessary, prescribe vaccinations.

— If a stray animal showed aggression, you should promptly report it to the sanitary or veterinary service. Together with animal control services, specialists go out, catch it, and isolate it for 21 days. If no clinical signs of rabies appear during this time — it is healthy. If they appear and it dies — it means it had rabies. After that, brain material is taken for examination.

If a domestic animal showed aggression, the algorithm is the same: you report it to the veterinary service, it is isolated and observed for 21 days.

— What are the clinical signs of rabies?

— The most striking symptom is hydrophobia, or fear of water. The animal salivates, but cannot drink. It's the same in humans.

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