A Kenyan team doctor representing the country at the ongoing 12th World Para Athletics Championships in India has issued an update on the team’s sprint coach, Dennis Mwanzo, who was bitten by a stray dog.
Mwanzo, alongside a Japanese assistant coach, Mieko Okumatsu, who are in New Delhi for the championships, were bitten by stray dogs at the warm-up track of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on the morning of Friday, October 3.
Kenya team doctor Michael Okaro, while issuing an update on the condition of the coach, told The Indian Express that the dog bite cases were a ‘big sign of worry’.
According to the team doctor, Mwanzo was fixing the starting blocks during a morning session with 200-metre sprinter Stacey Obonyo when a stray dog bit him on the right calf.
“The incident occurred around 9:30 am in the morning and Dennis was rushed to the Safdarjung Hospital and was given the rabies vaccine. At a global event like the World Championships, such incidents are a big sign of worry. We are worried about Dennis at the moment,” Okaro said.
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Coaches Dennis Mwanzo and Mieko Okumatsu bitten by stray dogs in India
On his part, Mwanzo told Pulsesport.co.ke that “at first, I thought someone was holding me, but when I turned, I saw it was a black-and-white dog. I struck it to free myself. I’ve since been treated at the hospital, as we don’t know if the dog had been vaccinated.”
The Organising Committee of the IndianOil World Para Athletics Championships 2025, in a statement, blamed ‘individuals repeatedly feeding stray dogs near the venue’ for the two bite incidents.
Okumatsu, the assistant coach of Japan’s intellectually impaired team, was also bitten in the morning during a training session. “I was bitten by a dog in the morning, but thankfully, the medical team disinfected me quickly,” the Japanese said.
Taking notice of the dog bite cases in the capital, the Supreme Court of India had in August ordered the relocation of all stray dogs from the streets to dedicated shelters, underlining that the canines should not be returned to the streets.
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Following protests from dog lovers, the Supreme Court termed its previous order as ‘too harsh’ less than a fortnight later and directed that these dogs should be returned to the area from where they were picked up after sterilisation, deworming, and vaccination, in accordance with the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023.
India is hosting the World Para Athletics Championships for the first time, with over 1,200 athletes from 104 countries participating in the global event, which will take place from September 26 to October 5.
The country is also bidding for the 2030 Commonwealth Games and the 2036 Olympics. The Organising Committee of the ongoing championships said that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi had ‘cleared the premises’ of stray dogs.
Mwanzo, together with the Kenyan team, is scheduled to return home on October 6, when he is expected to resume his treatment in Kenya.
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