A nine-year-old Lhasa Apso named Shaggy was minding his own business in his family’s backyard the afternoon of June 27 when events took a tragic turn.
Unbeknownst to Shaggy or his owner Douglas Hidalgo, a raccoon infected with the rabies virus lurked near their home at 67 South Main Street – and Shaggy wasn’t vaccinated.
"I heard some screams," Mr. Hidalgo said. "I thought what in the world is that?"
Going outside to investigate, Mr. Hidalgo said he found Shaggy being attacked by the raccoon. He rushed to find something to fend it off with, he said, and returned with a pitchfork.
Pinning the raccoon to the ground between the pitchfork’s prongs, Mr. Hidalgo said he told his daughter Brittany to call the police.
Cranbury Police had received a call from his neighbor about the raccoon shortly before his, Mr. Hidalgo said.
"They asked if I was calling back from 61 South Main Street," he said.
According to Mr. Hidalgo, police told him that his neighbor at 61 South Main Street had been chased around her house by the raccoon before she managed to lock herself in her garage and call police.
Keeping the raccoon pinned was difficult, Mr. Hidalgo said.
"It was pretty strong," he said. "I was afraid to let it go."
By the time Animal Control arrived, some 25 minutes later, the raccoon had nearly asphyxiated and was easily noosed by Animal Control officers, according to Mr. Hidalgo.
According to Cranbury Animal Control Officer Jerry Thorne, the dead raccoon was taken to Jamesburg Animal Hospital for preparation and transport to the New Jersey Department of Health Laboratory in Ewing for rabies testing.
Shaggy had suffered puncture wounds on his legs during the attack and was taken to Cranbury Animal Hospital for treatment, Mr. Hidalgo said.
Cranbury Animal Hospital is owned by Township Veterinarian Michael E. Young.
On July 1, the Middlesex County Office of Health Services reported that the raccoon tested positive for rabies.
This is the second rabid animal in Middlesex County this year and the first in Cranbury, according to a press release by the county health agency.
The first rabid animal reported was also a raccoon that was found in Edison on April 29.
Shaggy was not up-to-date on his rabies vaccination and, to Mr. Hidalgo’s knowledge, had never been vaccinated for the virus.
According to Mr. Hidalgo, Shaggy was originally his brother’s dog. His brother had left New Jersey for work in Florida, leaving the dog in his care.
Mr. Hidalgo said he was unaware of the biannual free rabies clinics the township holds or its purpose.
"I didn’t know what rabies does," Mr. Hidalgo said. "The more information I got, the more I realized how serious it was."
After the attack, Shaggy wa
s quarantined in the garage, Mr. Hidalgo said. Once the raccoon was found to be rabid, the difficult decision was made to put him to sleep.
"Wow, that was hard to do," Mr. Hidalgo said. "There’s a knot in my throat every time I think about that dog."
Mr. Hidalgo, his son Christopher and his brother – who came back to say goodbye to Shaggy – all received rabies post exposure vaccinations at the emergency room at a local hospital because they were the only ones to come in contact with the dog after the attack, he said.
Dr. Young said he can’t stress the importance of rabies vaccinations for pets enough.
"We are living in one of the worst rabies areas in the country," he said. "(Rabies) is universally fatal. It destroys parts of the brain."
Dr. Young said when a pet that has never been vaccinated for rabies is bitten by a rabid animal, there are two ways pet owners can proceed.
The first is to keep the pet quarantined in isolation for six months to see if any symptoms of rabies develop. The second is to put the pet to sleep and have it tested for rabies.
"Who wants to take a chance on having a rabid animal at home?" he said.
Once the pet is put to sleep, it is decapitated and the head is taken to the DOH lab in Ewing so the brain tissue can be checked for the virus.
Because rabies can infect all warm-blooded mammals, including man, Dr. Young said there is more at stake than the life of the pet.
"We give the vaccine to keep people from getting rabies," he said. "There is no way to stop it. Odds are you are going to die from it."
Upon receiving confirmation that the raccoon was rabid, Middlesex County Office of Health Services Senior Registered Environmental Health Specialist Lee Lloyd distributed rabies advisory fliers in the immediate vicinity of Mr. Hidalgo’s home, according to her comments during Monday night’s Board of Health meeting at Town Hall.
According to township Mr. Thorne, information about the rabid raccoon was also posted on the township website to alert the community.
When asked why the police department put out a Nixle alert about a bear’s recent downtown visit and not the rabid raccoon, Chief of Police Rickey Varga said he thought that putting out a Nixle alert to the community would be an appropriate action once he received confirmation that the raccoon was actually rabid.
As of press time on Thursday, a Nixle alert had not been issued.
The rabies virus is found in the saliva of a rabid animal and is transmitted by a bite or possibly by contamination of an open cut, according to the county’s release.
Raccoon and bat variants of rabies are constantly present in New Jersey. Of the animals diagnosed with rabies in the United States, bats, raccoons, skunks, groundhogs, foxes, cats and dogs make up about 95 percent.
The Middlesex County Office of Health Services advises residents to report wild animals showing signs of unusual behavior to their local Animal Control Officer.
Contact with wild animals should be avoided and any bites or scratches from wild or domestic animals should be immediately reported to the local health department.
A physician should also be consulted as soon as possible, according to the county health agency. All family pets should be up-to-date on their rabies vaccinations and licenses.
"Owners should get their pets vaccinated," Dr. Young said. "Even if your pet stays indoors, it should be vaccinated so people and animals don’t have to die."
(Central Jersey - July 10, 2014)
No comments:
Post a Comment