Dog bitten victims experience trauma, through education to reduce the risk of attacks

Love for dogs is nurtured by small feet, but no matter how great that love is, unfortunately, sometimes, there is a bite that has consequences. A few bites of domestic or street dogs can occur daily, for which citizens are compensated by municipalities or dog owner. Some of the expert public thinks it is necessary to raise the awareness of the population about what types of dogs are best to grow at home and what vigilance is necessary when it comes to wandering dogs, which should be helped, but also to be careful if they are sick or more aggressive, MIA writes.

When a dog bite to seek advice from a doctor, not internet opinions

Pediatricians and veterinary doctors recommend seeking medical help to determine what kind of injury it is. They emphasize that it is extremely important to follow the advice of health professionals, not to apply the experiences and opinions shared on social networks or on the forums of pets.

Pediatrician Dr. Angelco Andonovski said in a statement to MIA that there are more and more situations in which children have problems after a dog bites.

– Help should be sought as soon as the first symptoms occur. The most common symptoms in children are insomnia, school-to-law, fears of moving in the surrounding environment, precisely because of the fact that they are constantly considering to be bitten- explains Andonovski, who is part of the Citizens’ Association’s « Discovery » team that is implementing a program for supporting and protecting dog victims.

The program is designed to protect citizens from risks associated with attacks by homeless or ownership dogs, as well as to provide them with comprehensive support for dealing with the consequences of such incidents.

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Iskra Bikric, who is also part of the team, emphasizes that dog attacks include not only bite, but also aggressive barking and ribbon, chasing or cycling, running on the move, which can cause a car accident.

Bikric points out that some of the dog bite are minor and surface, with sufficient disinfectant the wound, but that there are more serious cases.

– These are cases of dog bite, resulting in skin, subcutaneous tissue or muscle. The most serious bacteria are almost always the present pastorella as well as the triggers of tetanus and rabies. It is particularly important to seek medical attention quickly, as the possibility of wound infection increases 12 hours after the bite. It is important to note that certain dog breeds have a strong enough jaw to cause fracture at the site of the bite, especially if it is a bite of the limbs or the face- she says.

The transmission of the tetanus bacterium is rare, says Bikric, but is not excluded.

– The risk of carrying rabies right now in our country is very low and the last reported animal case is in 2013, but one should never leave to note the observed symptoms in the dog that attacked as an unprovoked attack, increased aggressiveness, increased league or foam. If he estimates that if there is no information on the vaccine status of the animal, the health person will also recommend immunization against rabies- Bikric emphasizes.

This doctor of veterinary medicine says that the application of antibiotics is not always needed, especially not in the early action and processing of the wound.

– But again, I point out that it is extremely important to follow the advice of the healthcare worker, despite the experiences and opinions of members of the forums and Facebook pets. After a more serious dog bite that requires medical assistance, you would get a few questions. Is it an ownership or street dog? If it is owned, do you know the dog owner and can he submit documentation for his vaccine status and explain why the attack? If it is street, is there possible to locate and capture in order to evaluate his health and the degree of aggression? – explains Bikric.

She points out that after a dog attack, the aggressiveness of him is determined by a veterinary doctor who is trained to conduct a socialization test, although for the relevance of it, as she adds, many factors have a role.

– The biggest problem is that these tests, especially in homeless dogs, are performed in environments unnatural to the dog, which further increases the anxiety of it. If it is estimated that the dog shows aggression, it is to determine the degree of that aggression. If it is caused by aggression and is not constant, dog training is carried out. If the dog is estimated to be extremely aggressive and dangerous to the environment, Humana Euthanasia is carried out – underlines Bikric.

Program to Protect the Victims of Bite and Dog Attack

The Program for Support and Protection of Victims of Dog Attacks « Discovery » is relatively new. The goal is to raise awareness of the risk of dog bite, and to successfully implement the activities involved are psychiatrists, psychologists, veterinary medicine doctors, lawyers, professionals who work daily with dogs and deal with dog attacks.

– Through our program we want to influence responsible ownership, the way a dog dial – what dog breed will be chosen, how to keep it properly so as not to bite. It is very important and we can do that pedagogy – explains Ilija Petkovski, a MSc in Natural Sciences of Sorbonne, who is part of this program.

The program has another perspective, which is people’s education to the risk of attacking street dogs. The homeless population of dogs is growing and dog attacks are growing globally, Petkovski says, adding that the World Health Organization has declared a literally epidemic of dog attacks worldwide and that it is a tendency that will grow and should be aware of that risk.

– There are official statistics in Macedonia, exactly six attacks reported by a homeless dog per day. Many have not been reported, as many citizens do not know their rights and how the legal procedures are to compensate for such a bite and much of those attacks, unfortunately, are not recorded, do not enter these statistics. Also a large part, perhaps the majority of these attacks, will never be noticed in statistics, because they occur at home from their own dog because of inappropriate placement and unrecognizing the signs of the dog’s body language before such a thing occurs – Petkovski underlies.

Citizens who are attacked by a dog are entitled to appropriate monetary compensation, depending on the strength and duration of the injury, and the obligation to pay the funds is in the City of Skopje, the municipalities or the owner if the dog is domestic.

– In my practice I have had court proceedings for damages both from the bite and from pushing by a dog, as well as a traffic accident caused by a stray dog. All of my clients’ injuries so far are supported by appropriate medical documentation, photographs of injuries and confirmation from the Ministry of Interior. They are very rarely changed to start litigation. I cannot give the exact number of how many attacks I have registered in 2025, because in some cases I only have telephone calls from citizens seeking legal councils, and some are in the process of collecting the necessary documentation. From my practice, the most common attacks are from homeless dogs. Among the attackers, there are people of all categories, younger, older and the like-says lawyer Pavlinka Gicheva-Petkova for MIA.