Doctor Wants Rat Under Observation

rat links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 17 June 2011)

In Adana, when a citizen who was bitten by a rat went to the hospital a formal
request was made of the Agriculture Directorate to have the rat 'put under
observation.' In its official response, the directorate emphasized that 'the rat's
description has not been determined.'

This incident was like those seen in comedy films. Tahsin Gökler (65), who
lives in Yumurtalık, was bitten by a rat in his home so he had a precautionary
inoculation administered at a local hospital. He then went to his relatives in
Imamoğlu district where he had another shot given to him at the Imamoğlu
State Hospital, explaining to the doctors there about the rat bite. He was
released from the hospital.

Based on Gökler's condition, the chief doctor at the state hospital,
Dr. Bayazıt Yıldırım, wrote an official letter to the Yumurtalık District
Agriculture Directorate, as follows: 'the individual whose name and address
are written below came to our hospital complaining about a rat bite and
the inoculation process has begun. I request that the rat who bit him be
placed under observation and information be provided about the results.'

The Agriculture Directorate wrote the following official letter in response:
'in regard to your letter, since the ear-clip number and description of the
rat that bit Gökler was not provided it cannot be place under observation.
In the event that you provide the description and ear-clip number, the
rat will be taken under observation and we can then give you information
about whether or not the rat has rabies.'

The official correspondence between the two organizations surprised all
who heard about it. The rat that caused the crisis became the talk of
Yumurtalık, with citizens saying 'it's normal to have cats and dogs put
under observation but we're scratching our heads over how you would
put a rat under observation.'

Tahsin Gökler, the rat-bite victim, heard about the exchange of official
letters between the two organizations from a reporter. Gökler explained
that he had gotten up at night to use the toilet and was confronted by a
big rat. He first tried to kick the rat and then used a stick to hit him. At
this point the rat bit his hand. Gökler said that 'when it bit me I killed
it and threw it in the garbage. Had I known about the official letters I
wouldn't have thrown it away, I would have saved it.'