Hyderabad: Around 50 cases of dog bites have been reported at the Fever Hospital daily in the last 10 days and experts say this is due to the rising temperatures. The most vulnerable are children below five and teenagers who ride cycles and bikes in the city’s bylanes.
Doctors at the Fever Hospital say that the extreme weather conditions and lack of shelters was making it difficult for the dogs. Veterinarian Dr M. Venkatramana said, “The main reason for dogs to go mad is a lack of water. The other causes are rabies and a combination of lock jaw and epilepsy induced by inflammation of the sweat glands. Summer heat aggravates these conditions.”
The normal body temperature for dogs is between 100ºF and 102ºF. As the heat increases along with their body temperatures, they suffer from acute dehydration, making them aggressive.
Veterinarian Dr Prabhakar Rao said, “Leftover soiled food is given to them and that is how dogs get diseased and then they start attacking people.” The GHMC states that they receive 10 complaints about dogs daily but by the time the dog-catching van reaches the spot the canines are nowhere to be found.
