Went looking today for another dog at a local animal shelter.
The dogs were caged and as my wife held her hand to the cage to let one sniff, it managed to bite her finger enough to break skin and draw blood.
That dog has an unknown rabies vaccination status, but the dog has been under their care for a month (was told since July)
The shelter workers seemed to think things were just fine (though the dog would probably be put down since it was too aggressive to safely adopt).
I keep reading conflicting info on rabies and the timelines and was wondering how concerned I should be. Some things say they keep the animal under observation for 10 days to watch for rabies symptoms, but since it’s been there a month, I would think things are good?
Why not have them either keep it for another month (so it is well past the dog incubation period), or have it put down and tested for rabies?
The odds that it is rabid after being in their care for a month is quite small; nevertheless, contracting rabies is a death sentence. Why worry about that chance when you can easily find out for certain?
Personally, I’d demand that it be tested (yes, I know that means it has to be put down). But if it hasn’t had it’s rabies vaccinations yet, it needs to be tested so that I know if I need to start with rabies treatment.
There really shouldn’t be a question here. Put the dog down and test it. To do anything else is irresponsible.
What JKilez said. The dog is already going to be put down - have it tested for rabies immediately.
On a somewhat related note, what the hell kind of shelter workers “seem to think things are just fine” when a dog in their care bites somebody? Go to a doctor and have the bite cleaned thoroughly and contact animal control and let them know what happened. I’d expect them to get the shelter straightened out pretty quickly.
I always thought that if you might have been exposed you could get treated with a single shot - is that not the case? Or perhaps I’m just thinking of pre-exposure vaccination, and post-exposure treatment is more involved. I know that if it gets to the point of being symptomatic you’re done, but that it’s fully curable before symptoms arise.
Unfortunately they’re now closed til Monday, but I will call and raise holy h*** then. The concern about it didn’t really hit me til I got home and looked up the time line for these things
I was bit by a stray about 20 years ago. He just came up out of the woods and bit me. Here’s how they did rabies shots in the US, I suppose it’s the same. They don’t shoot in the stomach anymore FWIW. ANyway, I had a few weeks to make a decision as to whether I wanted the shot or not. For some reason, the doctor wanted to save my insurance company money, and he said it didn’t seem likely since the cat wasn’t in full on mad cat slavering rage. I grew up on a farm and I know if an animal comes up out of no-where and bites you, it could be an early indication of rabies, so I insisted on the shot.
They shoot a series of shots around the bite, then once a week for 6 weeks, I had to go get a shot in the hip (aka butt).
I had to go to the emergency room for every shot since they were the only place who had the vaccine. YMMV. My insurance paid without a bleep.
The vaccine is really pretty.
I wish I had kept the contraindications/warning paperwork because it was very interesting and gave the history of the testing. It was tested in Iran.
I am now safe from rabies for all animals except monkeys in Thailand. (That was on the paperwork)
You should had call the ACO and reported this , who run the shelter ? You really should had gone right to ER and they would have to report the bite .
I was bitten by client’s cat and had to get a tetanus shot. Is your wife up to date on her? That shelter is wrong in telling you not worry !
Huh. Is this permanent, or would it need to be renewed if you got bit again sometime down the road? Tetanus shots, for instance, need to be renewed after ten (?) years.
(I hope you like how I completely let slide by the whole Thai monkeys thing. )
It looks like now it’s just 4 or 5 shots, but still costs several thousand dollars. Personally, I’d rather the animal was tested over the ‘we’ll just quarantine it for 10 days and see if shows symptoms’ method or ‘lets just give you the shots anyways’.
Keep in mind that if you start showing symptoms you’re almost as good as dead.
If the shelter is refusing or putting up any kind of fight, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to call my local health department and Animal Control. I think the health department would probably have a protocol in place and Animal Control will take over on the case the the shelter will no longer have a say.
The funny thing is that the place is also the home of that county’s animal warden. They said it’d be reported and we’d probably be receiving a phone call…
Yeah that is why when I was bitten by a cat at work I had to report it to my boss and I needed to up date my Tetanus shot b/c it been more than ten years for me. A lot of people volunteer to work at shelters and they may not know anything dogs . So I wouldn’t take the word of person working at the shelter unless they’re a vet and know the dog health record. I got a shelter dog and the woman that volunteer didn’t even know the dog had a cough and she took care of him.
Never mind the dog; it’s caged and can be dealt with later.
**Rabies in humans is nearly 100% fatal. **
Please, please, please, take your wife to the doctor or ER tonight or first thing tomorrow morning at the very latest. Don’t screw around with this. Rabies symptoms can begin weeks to months after the bite. Before the person dies, they have hallucinations, seizures, and paralysis.
At the very least, she will probably get a tetanus shot and some antibiotics. The doctor may biopsy the area to determine if she needs a rabies vaccine. (BTW, the vaccine isn’t given in the stomach anymore, which is a good thing. It’s not pleasant, but it beats near-certain death.)
Tell the doctor or ER staff that a dog at XYZ shelter bit your wife. The shelter should be liable for having a dog of unknown vaccination status where the public can get near it, and you should not have to pay a cent for the treatment (which may be why the shelter was so unconcerned about sending her to a doctor).
The only way to test the dog for rabies is to take a sample of its brain tissue. Since the dog is going to be put down anyway, make sure you talk to the shelter asap so that the tissue can be preserved immediately.
Realistically, the chance that this dog has rabies is not worth panicking over. But since the outcome is horrific it’s worth getting the dog tested, especially if they’re going to put it down anyway.
While I agree that you should be cautious, you should also know that rabies is pretty rare in dogs in the U.S. According to the C.D.C., only 0.3% of dogs tested for rabies in 2010 were positive (citation). The incidence in the general dog population must be much lower than that - they don’t test dogs for rabies unless they have a reason.
Here’s more info from the C.D.C.: From 1995 through 2011 there were 49 cases of rabies in humans in the U.S. Most of them were due to bat bites. In the ones that were due to dog bites, most of the bites happened outside the U.S. (in places like Mexico, Nepal and The Phillipines). In recent years there have been very few cases of rabies cause by dog bites that occurred in the U.S.
So while it’s prudent to get it checked out, your wife’s chances of contracting rabies from this dog bite are very low. I think Merneith has the right idea - the dog should be tested soon, since it will be put down anyway.
Shelters have unvaccinated animals for people to see all the time. Since many of them are going to be euthanized (at least in regular shelters), they are not going to waste little previous resources in vaccinating them. They should and will, though, vaccinate those who get adopted, at least with the first series of shots. No-kill shelters, though, should have properly vaccinated animals already.
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