Over 12,000 dog, cat bite cases reported at SMHS Hospital in last one year

By: Jahangeer Ganaie

Srinagar: A whopping 12,833 bite victims, mostly from dogs and cats, sought treatment at the Anti-Rabies Clinic at Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital in the past year, officials said.

They said the prevalence of dogs across the valley has contributed to human-dog conflicts, leading to a rise in cases of dog bites in the region. They added that rearing cats at home has also led to bite cases.

Officials said that in the last one year, from June 2024 to May 2025, ARC SMHS Hospital received 12,833 cases, including 6,258 dog bites, 6,095 cat exposures, and 480 other bite cases. They said the cat exposure is increasing exponentially over the last few years, as many people are keeping them as pets, while almost all dog bites are reported from stray dogs.

“We receive over one thousand animal bite scratch exposures every month in Anti-Rabies, and in the last one year, around 13,000 cases have been reported,” they added. This figure of 12,833 cases marks the highest recorded in the past decade, underscoring the urgent need to address the issue immediately, officials said.

Providing a breakdown, an official said that 530 dog bites were reported in June 2024, 598 in July, 521 in August, 515 in September, 540 in October, 423 in November, 439 in December, 480 in January 2025, 463 in February, 524 in March, 625 in April, and 601 in May.

Details reveal that 440 cat bite cases were reported at the clinic in June 2024, followed by 440 in July, 432 in August, 414 in September, 486 in October, 399 in November, 514 in December, 692 in January 2025, 658 in February, 542 in March, 491 in April, and 537 in May till date, bringing the total number of cat bite cases from June 2024 to date to 6,095.

Speaking to KNO, an official at ARC SMHS said that cats do transmit rabies, similar to dogs, and that cat bite cases are on the rise. People need to take precautions in this regard. “The trend of keeping cats as pets has gone up, especially post-COVID times, but in many instances, owners are not following norms like vaccination, deworming, timely treatment, and hygiene practices,” he said. “We have seen many fold increases in the number of cases visiting the Anti-Rabies Clinic at SMHS over the last three years. Almost half of the cases are victims of cat exposures.”

Reviewing the yearly data on bite cases, the official said that from April 2015 to March 2016, 7,061 bite cases were reported to ARC SMHS, followed by 5,832 from April 2016 to March 2017, 6,802 from April 2017 to March 2018, 6,397 from April 2018 to March 2019, 6,139 from April 2019 to March 2020, 4,808 from April 2020 to March 2021, 5,469 from April 2021 to March 2022, 6,875 from April 2022 to March 2023, and around 8,800 from April 2023 to March 2024, making the total cases since April 2015 around 70,000.

According to officials, Kashmir witnessed a surge in pet ownership over the last decade. In contrast to farm animals, which provide milk, meat, and eggs, pets are kept purely for companionship. They stressed that adherence to personal hygiene while handling pets is crucial for preventing zoonosis.

“A person who intends to keep a pet must be mentally prepared to take proper care of their pet, respecting its behavioural requirements, providing adequate feeding, shelter, and healthcare facilities. There is no fun in bringing home an animal without taking proper care of it,” they said.

They added that regular hygiene practices, such as routine grooming and dental care, help prevent skin infections and dental diseases in pets.

In Kashmir, dog bites pose a serious public health concern, with thousands of people becoming victims of animal bites, particularly from stray dogs, and some developing rabies. Rabies is a universally fatal viral disease, resulting in approximately 59,000 human deaths annually worldwide, with 95 per cent of cases occurring in Africa and Asia—(KNO)