Food Agency looking for child scratched by rabid dog in Tbilisi
The Agency said it had informed “all relevant agencies” about the incident, and urged the parents to immediately report the case and vaccinate the child. Photo: Tbilisi Zoo
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The National Food Agency of Georgia on Tuesday announced a search for an adolescent who had been scratched by a stray dog, after the animal was confirmed to have had rabies following its death in the country’s capital of Tbilisi.
The Agency said the accident had occurred in the area of a petrol station near the Monument of a Cosmonaut on the Kakheti Highway, in the outskirts of Tbilisi.
It added the laboratory testing of the deceased animal’s pathological material had confirmed rabies after the body was informed of the dog's death on Monday.
It also said the person who had reported the accident had no identifying or contact information of the adolescent or their parents, and noted it was also unclear if the child had received a rabies vaccine.
The Agency said it had informed “all relevant agencies” about the incident, and urged the parents to immediately report the case and vaccinate the child.
A bill of amendments to the Criminal Code of Georgia aims to make punishment for animal cruelty and torture stricter, with the Parliament set to review the suggestions within accelerated timeframes.
The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia, along with the Parliament, has prepared the legislative amendments to the domestic criminal code to ensure the prevention of cruelty to animals, the Office said on Saturday.
The State Laboratory of Agriculture (SLA) has called on the public on the World Rabies Day 2021 to test their dogs for rabies as the disease is very dangerous for humans.
Tbilisi City hall has placed three eco-friendly food dispensers and a wooden house for stray dogs in the capital city.
A unified system for tracing dogs and cats across Georgia will be created to address the issue of stray animals, Maia Bitadze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Environmental Protection Committee, said on Wednesday.