Rise in animal bites causes concern

Dog and cat owners are not doing enough to prevent their animals from biting Saskatoon residents, says a city report.

The number of bites in the Saskatoon Health Region has increased to 416 in 2011 from 305 in 2005, an alarming trend that points to a lack of awareness in the community about bite prevention, said the report written by the city's animal control committee with help from the health region.

An upward trend of animal bites in Saskatoon and surrounding area is more concerning because the majority of bites are from pets, not wild animals, said Julie Kryzanowski, the health region's deputy medical health officer.

"The numbers seem to be increasing, but the troubling part is that most of them are exposures from domestic animals," she said. "That's particularly frustrating because that means they should have been prevented."

About 80 per cent of the 416 animal exposures - bites or scratches - in Saskatoon last year were caused by dogs and cats, according to health region numbers. About 92 per cent of those bites were caused by dogs and cats with owners.

There are more pet owners in Saskatoon than ever and many are "unaware of their responsibilities to their community and their pet" or they are aware but don't care, the report said.

The health region worked with the city's advisory committee on animal control to establish a new education campaign about bite prevention. The advisory committee presented a report to city council's administration and finance committee on Wednesday seeking approval for the campaign.

The campaign will focus on pet owners and doctors and veterinarians to educate the two groups about bite prevention and proper reporting. Posters and bookmarks will be distributed to vet and medical offices, pet stores, public facilities and in utility bills. The campaign will cost $3,000 and needs approval from city council after moving past the committee stage.

The health region and the advisory committee are hoping the release of the bite numbers will be a "call to action" to reduce incidents in the city.

Pet owners need to take better care of their pets in public and must pay attention to the situations in which their pets are known to be provoked, the committee heard. Ensuring a pet has an up to date rabies vaccination is recommended.

"When we do our investigations (into exposure incidents), in about two-thirds of the cases the pets have never been vaccinated or the vaccine is not up to date," Kryzanowski said.

Animal "exposures" are classified as any incident in which an animal bites or scratches or otherwise does something to break the skin of a human. The exposures run the risk of rabies, which attacks the human nervous system. "Rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms start to show," Kryzanowski said.

The last known case of rabies in Saskatchewan was "many decades ago," she added. But the risk is always there, especially from wild animals.

Last year, the health region received eight reports of skunk bites and 34 reports of bat bites.

jjwarren@thestarphoenix.com

Twitter.com/WaywardReporter

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