this pisses me off

 Quote:

AUDIO: Dogs Quarantined In Henrico After Contact With Rabid Raccoon

Chocolate Labs in Sandston Quarantined For 180 Days
By 1140wrva.com
Monday, August 24, 2009
p>Richmond, VA(1140wrva.com) Two chocolate labs in Sandston are quarantined for 180 days after a rabid raccoon was found dead in their owner's yard. Henrico police spokesman Lt. Doug Perry says the state lab confirmed that the raccoon tested positive after it was taken from the yard of the home in the 200 block of Antioch Drive Friday.

The owner of the labs told police the dog's rabies vaccinations lapsed in 2007. Perry says the dogs have been quarantined at their home and are not to have contact with any other animals for 180 days. Police will check with the owner over that period on the health of the dogs.

Perry emphasizes the importance of rabies vaccinations for pets and says this case illustrates that pets can be exposed even in the backyards of their owners.

http://www.wrva.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=128979&article=5916879

This person lives TWO miles from a vet clinic and ten miles from a SPCA clinic that offers free/inexpensive vacs.
This is not a typical "suburban area" we have foxes, racoons weasels, otters and the occasional coyote that wanders thru here. I oughta go to his house and tell him what a jerk he is. The county and the vet send you postcards to let you know when the Vacs are due.

It happens. If they're letting him do the quarantine it must mean exposure was unlikely.

Seriously the odds of your dog being struck by lightning is greater than the chance of it getting rabies, it's unfortunate but at least it was reported.

Recently (like within the last couple years) in Oregon a school teacher brought a bat to school to show the kids. The bat tested positive so an entire class of elementary school students had to get the post exposure injection series.

On the grand scale of things the two labs story doesn't seem so bad.

our nieghbor's dogs mixed it up with a fox w/rabies that got into his back yard while his kids where playing. The dogs killed the fox fortunatley the dogs were UTD on vac but the point is this was recent and all over the local news about the heroic dog, you think the Lab owner and others would double check the records

 Quote: Melissa Thom

Seriously the odds of your dog being struck by lightning is greater than the chance of it getting rabies, it's unfortunate but at least it was reported.

Not in my neck of the woods Melissa. Rabid skunks, foxes, raccoons and a good number of bats(they only carry the disease) not to mention the occasional coyote; makes me keep up to date on my dog's rabies vaccine. In a perfect world I'd love to not have to vaccinate but geographically, I'm challenged

 Quote: dennis jones

This is not a typical "suburban area" we have foxes, racoons weasels, otters and the occasional coyote that wanders thru here.

Dennis, I'm with ya' except you forgot the occassional bobcat... Rabies in Richmond is getting to be an enormous problem and as close as you and I are, it is a no-brainer.

This does bring back a funny memory... when I a young girl who knew better, I found a small (4-5") snapping turtle. I was one who loved all creatures,slimey or furry, so I held him up to my face saying something to the effect of "ohhhh, you are so cute, you wouldn't hurt me, would you?" The bite on my nose left a scar for many years, but the funny part (in hindsight) was my mother's frantic call to our vet asking if snapping turtles carried rabies...

OK, I wan't to show my true ignorance this morning.

I thought ALL rabies vax were 3 years. Even tho many places have a mandatory annual vax requirement, I thought the vaccine itself was three years.

So by my arithmetic, 2009 take away 2007 leaves 2. Which would make their vax up to date, even if it didn't meet local requirements.

Opinions?

Report says rabies certificate LAPSED in '07, not that they had shots in '07, which means it was probably good from 2004-2007... Least that's the way I read it...

~Natalya

Melissa,

It can be a serious problem is some areas. Between August 1 and August 28,2009, five people and a domestic cat were bitten by rabid foxes in Humboldt County California. The people are being treated and the unvaccinated cat was euthanized. This was reported by Kevin Metcalfe (supervising environmental health specialist) for the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services.

I'm not saying it's not serious for the people bitten by rabid foxes, it is for them. At least they have the common sense to seek medical attention for post exposure. Most of the people who die from rabies do so after not seeking medical attention after being bitten by a bat. It's just a very difficult disease to get on the whole compared to the flu, lyme disease,west nile, or tetanus. Of all the dogs tested (as in the lopped off head after exposure variety) less than .03% result in a positive result per the CDC.

So 5 people out of the 130 K people living in Humboldt county were bitten. Although I don't know the details of the exposure it's unlikely that any of these people will develop rabies because they know they were exposed. Every year in the USA between 30,000 and 40,000 people are treated for rabies post exposure and usually less than 10 develop actual rabies. It doesn't mean it's insignificant for those that do develop rabies as it is nearly 100% of the time a death sentence but most of those people did not seek treatment until they developed symptoms when it was too late.

It's very unlikely that these dogs will actually contract rabies since they have had vaccines at some point in their lives, were likely vaccinated again after exposed, and are in a limited capacity to infect anyone since they are under quarantine for six months. Six months of quarantine is unfortunate but it beats the alternative of PTS, head lopped off and sent to a lab. Or as in my grandfathers day cured by calibers if even suspected to be exposed.

If we had the same conditions as India where thousands of kids die every year from rabies I'd be with you on saying it's a serious issue. But as far as jumping all over this guy for getting behind on vaccines I'm not about it. Statistically we have a greater chance of being seriously harmed or dying from being bitten by our own dog(via trauma or infection) than getting rabies from any source within our lifetime.

 Quote: Melissa Thom

It's very unlikely that these dogs will actually contract rabies since they have had vaccines at some point in their lives, were likely vaccinated again after exposed, and are in a limited capacity to infect anyone since they are under quarantine for six months.

This is what I took away from the whole deal.