Rabid dog attacks, wounds boy, 1, in Quiot
What started as on ordinary day for Jay Nathaniel Medalla last March 24, which he spent playing in their neighborhood in Barangay Quiot, ended tragically when he was attacked by a rabid dog.
The attack left three deep gashes on the head and bruises in the pelvis of the one-yearold boy.
His grandmother Annalee said the children in the neighborhood, including her grandson, were playing with an old wooden bed at 8 a.m. when the incident happened.
The boy’s mother Jenny Rose, 24, was nearby, chatting with neighbors, she said.
But when the bigger kids started playing in groups, leaving Nathaniel by himself, the dog appeared out of nowhere and attacked.
“The dog only stopped attacking when one of the bigger kids shooed it away,” Annalee told SunStar Cebu.
A day before the attack, she said, the dog killed a neighbor’s rooster.
She said the dog, a local breed, had been chained at home with no one to feed it.
Annalee said the dog’s owner, Nating Palibot, seldom goes home.
SunStar Cebu tried to reach Palibot but he was unavailable for comment.
“I think someone must have left the gate open that weekend. That’s how the dog found its way out,” Annalee said.
Eighteen hours after the biting incident, the dog was found dead.
Annalee said they rushed the boy to the barangay health center then to the City Health Office ( CHO).
Dr. Mary Ester Camonggol, head of the City Health Animal Bite Treatment Center, said they gave Nathaniel active and passive anti-rabies immunizations.
Since last Monday, the CHO has been giving the boy medication, all free of charge. Nathaniel also has to take two regular shots of immunizations until April 28.
“We’re closely monitoring him. I also told the families in the area not to let their kids play unattended to prevent the same incident from happening,” Camonggol said.
Although Nathaniel has been responding positively to his medication, the CHO has advised the family to visit their office regularly as this is one of the severe cases of animal bite recorded this year.
Annalee, however, lamented that as much as they want the boy to get well quickly, they could not afford the expenses./