Rabies

[skyeboxer]

In a province of China the locals have until March 15th to hand in all their pet dogs for destruction as a preventative measure against rabies. That's way over the top, surely.

So, I'm just wondering...

How real is the threat of rabies where you live? Has anyone here ever experienced in a rabid animal in their backyard?

 

[Julie]

I have seen several animals in my parents backyard that were thought to be rabid.... And in our county they post all the positive rabid animal reports in the newspaper....Usually they start about this time of year when the weather starts to warm up and they last until it starts freezing again.

I also have adopted a puppy from the dog pound that tested positive for rabies...

The simple solution to prevent this in our domestic animals is to vaccinate....
Not kill all of them...

Do they not vaccinate in China?

 

[oc_spirit]

Rabies is very real around here and it is mandatory that all dogs have their rabies shot by law. It is the only vaccine that must be administered by a licensed vet and dogs must also always display their rabies tag when off of their property.

I''ve seen a few rabid animals in my day from being out in the country so much. Its a sad thing to see.

As for as I know Australia is the only place that is completely rabies-free which is why they they take so many precautions when someone wants to bring an animal into the country and the quarentine time is so long and strict

 

[ACooper]

I have never seen a rabid animal in person. I have lived in quite a few states, and usually out in the boonies so it is surprising to me that I haven't run into any ever.

 

[Spiritus]

Australia is one of many countries considered rabies free. There are many others. To import a dog over the age of three months into Canada, it must have it's rabies shot, unless it is from a country deemed rabies free. The countries considered rabies free are:

Antigua
Australia
Bahamas
Barbados
Bermuda
Cayman Islands
Fiji
Finland
Iceland
Ireland (Republic of)
Jamaica
Japan
New Zealand
Norway
St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla
St. Lucia
St. Martin (Netherlands Antilles)
St. Pierre et Miquelon Islands
St. Vincent
Sweden
Taiwan
Turks and Caicos Islands
United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland)
Uruguay

As for it being law to vaccinate pets for rabies, here in Canada we are not required by law to rabies vaccinate our pets. Is it highly recommended? You bet! Rabies is not a disease to be taken lightly.

 

[joce]

We get the occasional case of rabies out here.

When I was fourteen or so we went to my cousins to take care of her goat while she was out of town and there was a fox acting goofy back in the shed. we called the park rangers since she lives right by the park and they came out and shot it almost immediatley. It did end up having rabies and they did a lot of the rabies vaccine in treats thing and shot anyhting that acted goofy for a long time. I think they only came up with one or two other animals that had it but it was scary.

 

[elegy]

we do see rabies around here occasionally. we recently had some dogs at work get in a fight with a raccoon. the owner shot the coon and sent it for rabies testing, and it came back positive. thank goodness their dogs had rabies vaccines! it was very scary anyway.

in china, it is my understanding that dog-owners do not, by and large, have the money and access to rabies vaccine that we have, which is why this is such an ongoing problem. we don't hear about it except from a rounding-up-the-dogs standpoint because it's nothing new for people over there to die from rabies. something like 2000 people died from rabies in china last year.