Srinagar, May 16 (KNO): A whopping 17,127 bite victims, mostly from dog and cat bites, sought treatment at the Anti-Rabies Clinic at Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital in the past year.
An official while sharing details with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) 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 while cats are being reared at home now which leads to cat bite cases.
“In the last one year that is from April 2025 to March 2026 ARC SMHS Hospital received 17,127 including 7,307 dog bites 9,144 cat exposures and 676 other bite cases,” the official said, adding, “The cat exposure is increasing exponentially and have overpassed dog bite cases as many people are keeping them as pets while almost all dog bites are reported from stray dogs.”
'We receive around 1500 animal bite scratch exposures every month in Anti Rabies and in the last one year around 17,000 cases have been reported," he said.
“This figure of 17,127 cases marks the highest recorded in the past decade, underscoring the urgent need to address the issue immediately.”
Details reveal that 14554 bite cases were reported in Srinagar in last one year followed by 751 in Budgam, 266 in Baramulla, 231 Kupwara, 304 in Bandipora, 235 in Ganderbal, 152 in Pulwama, 96 in Shopian, 99 in Kulgam, 111 in Budgam and 328 from other districts.
An expert told KNO that cats do transmit Rabies similar to dogs and cat bite cases are on rise and 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 the 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 Anti Rabies Clinic SMHS over the last four years. More than half cases are victims of cat exposures now," he added.
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 cases 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, around 8800 from April 2023 to March 2024, around 12000 from April 2024 to March 2025 taking total cases since April 2015 to over 85,000.
“Kashmir is witnessing a surge in pet ownership for the last decade and in contrast to farm animals that provide milk, meat and eggs; pets are companion animals and are kept purely for companionship,” he said.
“Adherence to personal hygiene while handling pets is important for keeping Zoonosis at bay. A person who intends to keep a pet must be mentally prepared to take proper care of his pet animal with respect to behavioural requirements, adequate feeding, shelter and healthcare facilities. There is no fun in bringing home an animal without taking due care of it," he added.
They said 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 dog bites, and some developing rabies.
Rabies is a universally fatal viral disease, resulting in approximately 59,000 human deaths annually worldwide, with 95 percent of cases occurring in Africa and Asia—(KNO)