Dog bites man…man bites back!

20 juin 2011

Exactly one week ago today I was walking down a narrow street in central Sofia at 23.30, minding my own business…I was slightly lost, completely sober and trying to find the way back to my hotel after a two hour walk through a city which is  seriously beautiful by night.

In front of me, coming in the opposite direction, appeared an old man with three dogs running alongside which I automatically assumed were his. I never thought any more about it until they drew level and I felt a sudden pain in my leg. I looked down at a long tear in my jeans. In shock I just carried on walking and got the hell out of there before limping slowly back to the hotel. I will spare you the details of the wounded leg.

I was told a couple of days later by a Bulgarian journalist friend that in fact I had been lucky. In cases like this, one dog often takes the lead, before the others join in the attack.

Yes, I was lucky. It could have been a lot worse.

A thought for airport doctors

I was leaving for Brussels the next day and was told that I should consult a doctor as soon as I got back home. I arrived at Sofia Airport with time to spare and asked at the check-in counter if there was a doctor available.

I explained my case and was immediately taken to the Bulgaria Air supervisor who in turn took me to a medical room. There they gave me an immediate tetanus shot, cleaned the wound and made me promise, through my Bulgaria Air interpreter, to get anti-rabies treatment as soon as I was back in Brussels, and within 24 hours of the bite. And they were deadly serious.

When I reached Zaventem at 20.00, I found the airport medical centre and asked the duty doctor for help with getting the vaccine. At first, he was not sure that there was a problem, but he quickly looked it up on the internet and found that indeed there was one…..in Bulgaria.

To cut a long story short, he arranged for me to pick up the vaccine that evening at the deserted Institut Pasteur, a Stalinist-like complex in the wilds of Uccle and the only place in Brussels where it is available. Two injections followed and I still have another two to go….

I never gave a thought before to doctors and all those other dedicated professionals who work behind the scenes at airports. But I do now and I will certainly never forget the help they gave me when I needed it and the kindness they showed, and all at no charge.

Avoidable accidents waiting to happen

I love Bulgaria. It’s a wonderful undiscovered country and a natural tourism destination of the future. I love the people, the warm welcome, the history, the music, the mountains, the countryside, the nature, the food & wine, the rakija, the yogurt….

But it does have a national issue with stray dogs, often roaming in packs and in particular in its capital city.  If Sofia is to fulfil its new vocation as an emerging city breaks destination, the authorities will have to deal quickly with this problem and take these stray dogs off the streets.

It is not only to protect visitors, but also for the sake of its own inhabitants, especially children and older people who are the most vulnerable to such unprovoked attacks and accidents which can have terrible consequences.

It cannot be too difficult, surely, to distinguish which dogs have owners and which do not. In Brussels, like in most other cities, dogs are usually on leads in the streets and are only let off in controlled open spaces like parks.

More accidents like mine are waiting to happen. It is time for Sofia and Bulgaria to act.

Other visitors may not be so lucky.

My grateful thanks ….

…to Bulgaria Air’s check-in staff and supervisor.

…to the doctor and nurse on duty at Sofia Airport on the afternoon of Tuesday 14 June

…to Dr. De Vrekers at Meda, Brussels Airport

…and to the Institut Pasteur in Brussels.

Bruce Taylor