By Cecilia Nasmith

The Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit urges everyone to Keep Bites At Bay – a problem that increases each year as warm weather brings people and pets outdoors more and more.
With nearly 600 animal bites reported locally last year, the health unit encourages people to take steps to help stop a problem that too often hits home.

“We have seen an increase in animal bites incidents in the past couple of years, and most of our investigations continue to involve pets or domestic animals,” Manager of Health Protection Richard Ovcharovich said in the press release.

“This is a concerning trend, especially given the possible exposure to rabies.”

Ovcharovich encourages all parties to play their part.

“As a parent or caregiver, never leave a young child alone with an animal, even if it’s your pet,” he said.

“Children may not know any better, and start to rile or incite even friendly animals to act out and attack. The result can be an animal bite or scratch that leads to severe, long-lasting physical and emotional trauma.”

To reach children more effectively, the health unit has developed an animal-bites-prevention classroom resource and activity that is tied to the school curriculum. They are reaching out to local educators interested in using the resource and, starting this week and into June, Public Health Inspectors will begin presenting it virtually to students in classrooms that have expressed interest.

Ovravich also noted pet owners play an important role in prevention.

“Owners have the responsibility to make sure their pets are fully vaccinated against rabies,” he pointed out.

“They should also make certain pets are leashed, under control, and discouraged from running free unless they are in a designated dog park.

“Owners should pay extra close attention if children are nearby,” he added.

The health unit is also promoting the Yellow Ribbon campaign locally, an international effort to encourage people to use yellow ribbons to show that a pet (usually a dog) needs its space.

“Tying a yellow ribbon onto a dog’s leash or collar means not to pet the animal, as it needs space for a reason,” Ovcharovich explained.

“Yellow ribbons don’t always mean the animal is aggressive. It could also indicate the dog needs space because it is nervous, grumpy, in training, or recovering from surgery.”

The health unit must be notified any time an animal bites or scratches a person. If this does occur, Ovcharovich encourages people to get the pet owner’s contact information. If possible, take a picture of the animal or remember specific features (like markings, collar with tags). This assists the health unit in its follow-up investigation to ensure the correct animal is identified.

For more information, call the health unit at 1-866-888-4577, ext. 5006, or visit www.hkpr.on.ca.