A kindergarten teacher’s pet dog attacked several children in Haifa shortly after she fostered the pet, not knowing it had rabies, N12 reported on Friday.
The teacher, who runs a private daycare in the Kiryat Haim neighborhood, adopted the dog through an organization after the former stray was found wandering near Jaljulia.
A veterinary clinic reportedly determined the dog to be healthy, and so the teacher took the dog to the daycare center where she worked, where the dog attacked five children and two adults.
An informed source told N12 that the organization failed to note obvious bite marks on the dog, which would have been a sign of early rabies infection, and wrongfully released the dog for fostering.
Multiple failures led to rabid dog in Israeli kindergarten
Despite the teacher previously telling authorities the dog was separated from the children, the investigation revealed that the children interacted with and petted the infected animal. From November 3 until November 6, the dog interacted with 35 different children.
"She started developing strange symptoms," the source said, "suddenly biting, suddenly restless. Five children were injured - two brothers, two girls, and another boy. The owner of the daycare center and her daughter were also bitten."
After the attack, the dog was taken to a veterinary clinic where it was determined she had rabies. She attacked a member of the medical staff during the exam.
The dog has since died, and the Haifa municipality opened a complaint against the daycare operator.
"Imagine you send your child to daycare, and only after a few days you are told that a street dog with rabies is walking around there," a source familiar with the details of the incident told N12. "It's the kind of story you hear and immediately want to run there yourself."