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CHANGLUN – A man’s attempt to feed a stray dog believed to be hungry turned tragic when he was bitten by the animal and later died of rabies on Sunday.
In the incident in August, Nik Muhamad Adha Nik Zulkifli, 31, was reportedly at Changlun permanent Pasar Tani here to deliver goods to his wife, who runs a business there.
A trader at the Pasar Tani, Jamaliah Abdullah, 65, said it was drizzling when a stray dog suddenly entered the area.
She said the dog was believed to have been chased away by traders before fleeing to a nearby area.
“He was about to return to work at the time, but he was an animal lover. Perhaps out of pity for the dog, he bought some bread and gave it to the animal.
“Shortly afterwards, the dog bit him on the hand. He returned to his wife’s stall with his hand covered in blood,” she said when met here on Monday.
Jamaliah said she then advised the victim to seek immediate treatment at a clinic after seeing the injury on his hand.
She said the victim later sought treatment after feeling unwell.
“I never expected that he would eventually die. I am deeply saddened because he was a kind person who genuinely cared for animals,” she said.
The remains of Nik Muhamad Adha were laid to rest at the Kampung Changkat Setol Muslim Cemetery here on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, trader Halim Saidin, 77, who has been doing business at the Pasar Tani for 40 years, said he was shocked by the incident as he had never seen stray dogs roaming the area before.
“For the 40 years I have been doing business here, I have never seen dogs roaming this area. There are none even at night.
“That is why I was shocked to learn that this incident happened. We do not know where the dog came from,” he said.
Meanwhile, Changlun permanent Pasar Tani manager Azize Yusoff said the bite occurred about 60 metres from the Pasar Tani.
He said the victim was not a trader at the Pasar Tani but had come to deliver goods to his wife, who ran a business there.
“The deceased worked elsewhere, while his wife was a trader here. On the day of the incident, he came to deliver goods to his wife,” he said.
Earlier, the Kedah State Health Department (JKN Kedah) said the 31-year-old man died of rabies after having a history of being bitten by a stray dog in August.
According to JKN Kedah, the victim sought treatment at a health facility after the incident but did not receive rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).
The case was the first human rabies case reported in Kedah since 1998.
