A Raccoon stole your homework?

I'm making this one P&C just because. I think the raccoons are in league with the squirrels. The squirrels attack are dead veterans. The raccoons go after the education system. It's a terrorist plot.

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/09/So...

They had to kill the raccoon and her babies to do a rabies test on the dog? That's very, very sad. After all, it's not the raccoon's fault she and her babies crashed into the kid's room.

Man, Grayjedi, now you've just made me sad.

They had to kill the raccoon and her babies to do a rabies test on the dog?

They could have killed the dog...

Did I now Kat, well they were intruders. I'm sure you don't want to hear what happens to the raccoons that harrass my chickens. I have less mercy for them than squirrels. And wait until I get my hands on the fox that is wiping out my ducks. "swiper no swiping" doesn't work.

Dr.Ghastly wrote:
They had to kill the raccoon and her babies to do a rabies test on the dog?

They could have killed the dog...

Choose who gets to die: Racoon and her litter of babies, or your family pet. Now I'm even sadder than I was before. Thanks.

Isn't there any way yet to do a rabies test without killing the animal in question? I don't know how these tests work, but it seems particularly wasteful and cruel to kill an animal only to find out that it didn't have rabies. Maybe someone can explain this for me...

KaterinLHC wrote:

After all, it's not the raccoon's fault she and her babies crashed into the kid's room.

So whose fault is it then?

Isn't there any way yet to do a rabies test without killing the animal in question? I don't know how these tests work, but it seems particularly wasteful and cruel to kill an animal only to find out that it didn't have rabies. Maybe someone can explain this for me...

As I understand it they have to dissect the brain to test for rabies..so the answer is no. You have to choose.

CannibalCrowley wrote:
KaterinLHC wrote:

After all, it's not the raccoon's fault she and her babies crashed into the kid's room.

So whose fault is it then?

Nobody's. "Fault" implies someone did something wrong, and this is one of those sad situations where there isn't really anyone to blame. You could say that the homeowners could have checked their roof for leaks (especially since it must have been big enough and around long enough for raccoons to squeeze in and take up residence in their attic), but that's an easy thing to miss, especially if there's no water damage and you never go up to the attic. You could say that the raccoons should have 'known better' than to take up residence in a house, but how in the world is a wild animal going to understand the idea of 'house' and 'property' anyway? You could say that the dog should be better trained than to bite a wild animal, but you know, that's what dogs are supposed to do; defend their pack.

Nope, I don't think you can really blame anyone or assign fault. It's just a tragic situation all around.

Isn't there any way yet to do a rabies test without killing the animal in question?

No, and since rabies causes strange, aggressive behavior in animals, any animal that is behaving in a strange, possibly aggressive way is suspect. You have to physically test the brain to detect the infection.

So consider - you have the raccoons, and a family pet, and the family. The pet did not have rabies before. So if you test the pet and it's positive, you kill it and the raccoons, since it is presumed to have gotten rabies from the raccoons. If you test the raccoons and they are positive, you have to kill the pet as well as medicate the humans. (If you wait until you could tell that the dog was dying of it, its human family would be showing symptoms - you need to know quickly to begin the meds.) If you test the dog and it's negative, you still don't know if the raccoons are infected, so you can't release them, and if the humans were exposed to them, you need to know - so they get killed too. If you test the raccoons and they are negative, then you don't need to kill or painfully inject anyone else.

So that last one is actually the best scenario for everyone involved. Sucks for the raccoons, but only if they were not infected.

No, and since rabies causes strange, aggressive behavior in animals,

So is rabies the key to zombification? (umm sorry, no active zombie threads today....)

Now we know from whence the undead plague will originate!

RUN!!!

This is how it works. The raccoons would have to be put down if there was an exposure. Because a small child and a domestic pet were involved with the case they would most likely euthanize the animals as a precaution. If the test results come back positive then treatment on the child will proceed. If the dog is not vaccinated then the dog would probably be put down, but laws vary on this from state to state. If the dog is vaccinated, then it gets a booster and has to be in a quarantine situation for a set period of time where its not allowed to interact with other animals, not allowed to run free and gets regular visits from a board of health official/dog officer to make sure its not showing temperment changes or neuro signs.