Bengaluru: Welsh entrepreneur, who built 'startups worth over $100m' in India, bitten by stray dog

Oliver Jones said Jones said he usually runs around the old airport terminal entrance and that the attack occurred during his second pass through the area that day. (Image credit: @Agent_Oli/X)

A Welsh entrepreneur living in Bengaluru was recently bitten by a stray dog while out on a run near the old airport terminal. Oliver Jones, who said he built two startups in India valued at over $100 million, shared his experience on social media, posting a photo from the hospital and writing sarcastically, “I love stray dogs. Especially the ones who join me on my runs in Bangalore… At least the rabies shots are only Rs 350.”

Jones received anti-rabies and tetanus shots and will undergo follow-up treatment over the next month. “I usually run around the old airport terminal entrance, it’s a quiet, army-maintained area,” he wrote. “One aggressive pack roams around there after 6 pm, nearly got my wife! My strategy is (was) to ignore them completely and keep running at my normal pace. These ones were weird as they chased for over 100m (usually they give up fast) in the middle of the day before taking a chunk out of my ankle.”

Locals rushed him to ICU after attack

Jones said the attack occurred during his second pass through the area that day. “Perhaps rabid… Some very kind locals saw and gave me a ride to the ICU,” he added. Later, while boarding a flight, two strangers asked if he was okay. “I’m going to be known in Bangalore as the white guy who was bitten by a dog, aren’t I?” he joked.

Refuses to leave India despite criticism

After his post went viral, Jones responded to questions about why he continues to live in India. “To folks asking me why I don’t leave India, I won’t because I believe in something, and am willing to go all the way,” he wrote. “Sometimes that means dog bites, watching my parents grow old from afar, landing in a new country with only $300, sharing a bed with pigeon nests.”

Jones moved to India with limited resources and has since built two successful startups. “I have built two startups here worth over $100 million,” he said, defending his decision to stay despite the challenges.

Read more: Supreme Court tweaks order: Release stray dogs after sterilisation, rabid ones to be put in shelters; no public feeding