CHAPEL HILL, NC -- A judge is sending a woman's dog home after being quarantined in a Chatham County vet clinic for more than four months.
Russell, a 7-year-old terrier mix, will be released at 5 p.m. today from Tysor Veterinary Clinic in Siler City, where he has been kept after an encounter with a rabid raccoon.
According to owner Susan Garrett, District Court Judge Lunsford Long called her attorney early this morning to say that he was concerned about this case and he was going to order Russell be released to home quarantine.
Garrett has established that Russell has "suffered and continues to suffer irreparable harm while being quarantined," according to the order.
Orange County and Garrett are to work out the conditions of the home quarantine. For now, Russell is to have no human contact other than Garrett's immediate family and no contact with any other animals for the remainder of the quarantine, according to the order.
The conditions are subject to review at a July 25 hearing in Pittsboro.
Russell was quarantined after a raccoon he was barking at was found to be rabid. His owner said she did not see the dog have contact with the wild animal, but the dog was overdue for a rabies shot.
When a dog is not current on its rabies vaccination, state law requires a six-month quarantine after contact with a rabid or suspected rabid animal, or euthanasia if the owner cannot afford or does not want to pay the cost of quarantine.
Garrett sued Orange County to bring Russell home. County officials said the dog needed to be kept in a clinic for safety and so experts trained in rabies symptoms could monitor him.
(News Observer - July 15, 2011)
