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100,000 people scratched by pets a year

Writer: Zhang Qian  | Editor: Lily A  | From:  | Updated: 2018-04-25

ABOUT 100,000 people are scratched by pet dogs or cats each year in Shenzhen, according to data released at an activity Monday that provided free services to help people register their pets and get them vaccinated.

Pet experts were invited to share knowledge about raising pets with residents. Some pet owners brought along their pets to get free vaccines and seek advice about their pets’ health conditions. There were also stalls set up in the square where residents could adopt stray dogs and cats.

Shenzhen has approximately 200,000 registered pets, and about 100,000 residents have suffered scratches and attacks from pet dogs and cats, according to Deng Wenhuang, deputy director of Shenzhen’s animal health care center.

In 2001, Shenzhen implemented compulsory and free rabies vaccines for pet dogs. No rabies cases were reported from 2008 to 2016. However, a resident was infected with rabies from a stray dog and died last year.

“Most stray dogs are pets that went missing because their owners did not use a leash or simply abandoned them,” said Deng. “These dogs, if they haven’t been vaccinated, can be infected with rabies easily while leading a feral life.”

Deng said getting pet dogs and cats vaccinated is the most effective and economic way to prevent rabies.

Nationwide, 502 people were reported to be infected with rabies in 2017, 23 of which were in Guangdong Province, the lowest rate in the past decade.

To deal with scratches from cats and dogs, Chen Xin, director of Ruipeng Pet Hospital in Fumin, suggested that residents clean the wounds with soap and put them under running water for 20 to 30 minutes. Residents are also advised to press the wounds to squeeze the virus, blood and saliva out.

People who are injured by dogs and cats must visit local hospitals to get the vaccine as soon as possible, because rabies can take anywhere from 10 days to a few years to become symptomatic.

According to a White Paper last year on China’s pet industry, there were about 59.12 million households keeping nearly 250 million pets in 2017. Shenzhen has 190 pet hospitals and 280 pet shops, and over 4,000 work in the industry.