Dog bite prevention during the Covid19 pandemic | Khashan Law
National Dog Bite Prevention Week is observed every year in the second week of April. This year it was observed from April 12 to 18, the main aim of the dog bite prevention week is to educate people on how to prevent dog bites. Both the veterinary and insurance industries come together to educate and promote responsible pet ownership. This year with the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our lives and our pet animals, the information was tailored to provide inputs on how to take care of the dogs during this stay at home and social distancing period during the pandemic.
The National Dog Bite Prevention Week Coalition has warned that during this time of pandemic the number of dog bite cases will increase, if people will fail to recognize the signs of distress or are unable to provide the dogs with a safe place to stay and move around. A special webinar covering the topic “Sheltering safely with pets at home,” was hosted by the coalition to educate people on how to handle the situation of their pets in these dire times of the Covid19 pandemic.
The American Humane and various pet shelters and rescuers across the country have been encouraging people to come ahead and foster or adopt a pet during the ongoing pandemic. Dr. Lesa Stabus from American Humane stated that “We can save lives of shelter animals, find a ‘pandemic pet’ to help us through this period of loneliness and isolation, and do it safely.” Since there is a high risk involved in handling dogs, babies, and children they have created a free online booklet called Pet Meets Baby which will provide the families useful information on how they can introduce a child to a new dog or vice versa.