KULOB, January 31, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- 439 dog bite cases were registered in the city and the district of Kulob last year, the Kulob chief sanitary inspector Jamshed Rafiyev said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, all the dog bite victims were treated with anti-rabies vaccine.  “In all, 54,753 somoni were spent for treatment of those 439 dog bite victims as one ampoule of anti-rabies vaccine costs up to 37 somoni,” Rafiyev said, noting that funds for the vaccine were provided to medical facilities by the Kulob center for sanitary and epidemiological supervision and the dog bite victims themselves.

“Of 439 dogs that attacked people last year, only 49 were the stray ones, while the remaining 390 dogs have owners,” said the Kulob chief sanitary inspector, “The dog owners, however, bear no responsibility for aggressive actions of their pets.  The dog bite victims also do not apply to relevant bodies for compensation from the dog owners.”

He added that the center for sanitary and epidemiological supervision had applied to the Kulob mayor’s office with solicitation to adopt a decision on dog owner responsibilities and compulsory registration of all pet dogs.