Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 08:18:39 -0400
From: Lisa Mayhew
Subject: Regarding dog attacks, livestock and animal control
Regarding dog attacks, livestock and animal control: On average, NC has one death per year attributed to a dog for ages 17 and under. Yes ‘pit’ type dogs account for a percentage but german shepherds, huskies, mastiffs, saint bernards, rotties, and mutts have accounted for the rest. If it has teeth it can bite.I was attacked as a child by a golden retriever so I know first hand. Bite stats aren’t necessarily accurate because so many go unreported, but many household breeds top the list of biters. I don’t care if it’s YOUR dog and you believe it wouldn’t hurt a fly, children are squeaky noise makers to dogs, agitators of dogs and they smell funny to dogs. Aggression isn’t necessarily always the reason behind an incident, as it could be curiosity or hunger that drives the actions of the animal. I’m always hesitant to blame the dog as often there is a lack of supervision on the human’s part, making their actions contributory.
If you have livestock, protect it.
Regarding animal control, I recall a number of years ago having to shoot a questionable raccoon for a neighbor and no one would come collect it for testing. So my question would be if they aren’t testing the potentials, how do we know what our true rabies rate is? Their response: bury it.
Lisa Mayhew