15 injured after suspected fox attack in Patan village

Fifteen people were reportedly injured in an animal attack in a village in Patan’s Santalpur in the early hours of Sunday. Locals suspected that a fox-like creature was behind the attacks.
The forest department, which found a dog carcass near the village, deployed around 20 personnel to verify the residents’ suspicion.Vauva, which is about 15 km from Santalpur town, was among the areas where the incident was reported. Babubhai Ahir, a resident and son of the village sarpanch, said, “A wild animal entered our village in the night and bit 15 to 20 people between 1 am and 6 am. It also bit domestic animals. The injured were taken to hospitals in Patan, Mehsana and Ahmedabad. Nobody is critical, but some have sustained severe injuries to the face. We suspect that the animal was a fox.”
According to a local revenue official many people had been attacked, but it was not immediately clear what animal was responsible.“Forest officials have reached the village and started searching for the possible wild animal. There was a rabid dog in the village, which died. But it is not confirmed if it was the dog that bit the people. If one looks at the bite wounds from a dog bite, it does not look like that,” the official said.“But as a precautionary measure, people have been asked to remain alert and report if anybody shows symptoms of rabies,” the official added.
Patan Deputy Conservator of Forests Nikund Parmar said the department was informed about the incident in the morning.“People suspect it to be a wild animal. But when we checked CCTV footage of the area where the incident was reported, we found a dog. The dog died around 7-8 am,” Parmar said.“While we believe that it could be a dog that attacked the people, people are also suspecting that it could be a fox. So, we are doing a spot inspection and verification. But so far, there is no direct sighting of a fox,” he said.
Parmar said most of the injured had been discharged.According to him, the presence of the virus in the dog could be confirmed only after its post-mortem examination. He said the dog that died in the morning appeared to be the same one spotted in the CCTV footage.“When people suspect the presence of a wild animal, it is our duty to check and verify. Twenty forest teams have been deployed for that,” Parmar said.

(State Correspondent)