MASSACHUSETTS -- Amy Love of Belchertown is appealing to the owners of a dog that bit her dog to come forward, so that her service animal can be released from quarantine.
Love, 50, was walking with her service dog, Neikko at the Mount Tom Reservation in Easthampton Oct. 22, when the incident occurred. At the time, she said, she was concerned with getting Neikko's leg injuries treated, while the owners of the Rottweiler who bit her dog left the park.
Love, 50, was walking with her service dog, Neikko at the Mount Tom Reservation in Easthampton Oct. 22, when the incident occurred. At the time, she said, she was concerned with getting Neikko's leg injuries treated, while the owners of the Rottweiler who bit her dog left the park.
Later, she learned that Neikko would have to be quarantined for 45 days because she can't prove if the dog had been vaccinated against rabies. State law requires that all dogs, cats and ferrets be vaccinated against rabies.
Love is asking the Rottweiler's owners to come forward with information about the health of their pet.
"I'm not going to press charges. I am not a litigious person," said Love, a former clinical social worker at Easthampton High School. "I just want to know 100 percent that my dog will not have rabies."
Neikko, a 10-year-old Siberian Husky - Samoyed mix, has been vaccinated, she said.
Love said the Rottweiler's owners reported that their pet has also been vaccinated, but that is not enough to get Neikko released from quarantine. The Rottweiler's owners need to show that the dog is healthy, said Robert Jackman, animal control officer in Easthampton.
Michael Cahill, director of the Division of Animal Health at the state Department of Agricultural Resources, said Wednesday that if the owners of the biting dog come forward "that would be the ideal situation," for Love.
Those owners would not have to provide proof of vaccination because more than 10 days have passed since Love reported that Neikko was bitten, Cahill said.
If the Rottweiler is healthy at this point, that shows the dog likely has not transmitted rabies to Love's dog, he said.
"We just need to know that the dog is healthy 10 days after the incident," Cahill said. "If that's the case, there's no need for quarantine."
The rabies incubation period varies from two weeks to three or four months, Cahill said. During the incubation period, the bitten animal is not infectious, he said. Once the virus enters the brain, rabies can be transmitted through the infected animal's saliva, according to Cahill.
"Once they show symptoms, they go downhill very quickly," Cahill said. "We know they can live only about eight days if they are showing symptoms."
Jackman, Easthampton's animal control officer, said the Rottweiler's owners can contact his office, 529-1418, to confirm their pet is healthy. He said he will file a report on the incident and does not expect to take any other action.
Love, a musical performance artist, said she had to cancel a trip to London, scheduled for earlier this month, because of her dog's confinement.
[This is very odd. I guess it varies by state, but requiring a vaccinated dog to be quaranted for 45 days?? She did the right thing and had her dog vaccinated. She can simply do a home quarantine.]
(Daily Hampshire Gazette - Nov 10, 2011)
