Vaccination could save pet from euthanasia

Teresa Pendergrast of Unionville is calling herself "a very irresponsible pet owner."

The day before Thanksgiving, her kids called her at work to tell her that their family dog, Little Bit, had something trapped in their garage and "was barking up a storm."

That "something" turned out to be a rabid skunk and since Teresa had not kept up with Little Bit's vaccinations, on Monday, the Pendergrast family had little choice but to euthanise their beloved pet of more than eight years due the dog's exposure to the rabid animal.

But Teresa did not know that the daytime appearance of the sometimes smelly woodland creatures means that the animal is likely infected with rabies, and she wants to make sure that other families don't learn this painful lesson the way she did.

Michael Gregory is in charge of Bedford County Animal Control and he noted that the remains of Little Bit have been sent off for testing. But initially, he had to refer the case to the county's Health Department since they do not handle wildlife cases.

"If you see one (a skunk) in the daytime, you have to assume it is rabid," Gregory warned residents. "Anything rabies goes to the health department and we go by their guidelines."

The deadly rabies virus that is transmitted by bites from an infected animal can be prevented if properly treated before symptoms develop.

However, if left untreated, rabies is nearly always fatal. While cases in humans are rare, up to 40,000 people received preventive treatment each year following being exposed.

According to figures released by the Tennessee Department of Health, Bedford County had a total of seven positive rabies cases so far in 2008 -- all involving skunks, Gregory said -- not including this case.

For Tennessee in 2008, there was a total of 120 rabies cases, with 64 skunks testing positive, followed by 26 raccoons, 17 bats, eight foxes, two each for cats and dogs and one horse in Trousdale County.

Counties surrounding Bedford also have a number of rabies cases listed this year. Rutherford had a total of 11 rabid skunks, Coffee County had six, Franklin County had two, and Marshall County had a total of four skunks, two bats and one dog tested as rabid.

If you take away the number of rabid animals found in Memphis' Shelby County, just two bats, most of the infected cases start right in this region and then head eastward, Gregory noted.

There are few choices left to a pet owner if their dog or cat is exposed to a rabid animal, Gregory said. The first choice is always to euthanise the pet, unless it was well vaccinated.

If the pet has not be vaccinated or has a questionable vaccination, a strictly enforced six-month quarantine, with the pet kept in a pen inside of a pen, is the only other option, followed by re-vaccination at five months, Gregory said.

"If there's rabies, you're going to see it in the first few days of quarantine," he said.

But, had the Pendergrasts' pet been vaccinated, Gregory said, the owners could have been told to re-vaccinate immediately and to observe the pet for the next 45 days instead of putting the animal to sleep.

However, in the event a dog, cat or ferret bites a human, the pet has to be quarantined for 10 days from the bite, regardless if it had been vaccinated or not, with Gregory mentioning that a radio fence in not an acceptable means of quarantine,

In the case of a wild animal bite, the beast should be put down and tested.

Teresa said she saw the rabid skunk in the neighborhood of Wildwood Dr. two weeks ago, but she was not aware that the animals almost always come out at night.

She also had another thought -- if the skunk in her garage wasn't the same one she saw two weeks ago, there could be another one roaming the Unionville area, and that frightens her.

"I learned a great big lesson from this," Teresa said, thinking back about neglecting her dog's vaccinations. "You better make sure you get your pet's shots."

"Little Bit was very loyal. She was just defending her home."