Tried to upload pictures with my last post, but I need to resize them.
Here is part 2 of my losses in 2017. Yes, they came (or left, as you'll soon see) in pairs.
A couple of weeks after we lost Penny and Guacho, I was on my way home and something said "stop at the animal shelter." (Their turn off is just before I get to my place.) I said "OH HECK NO!! There's no way I'm bringing another dog home right now." But something kept nagging at me the closer I got to the turnoff, so I finally gave in and went over there. They had just brought in a pair of German Shepherds. We figured they were brothers, since one was white and the other tan and rust. They'd been live trapped as nuisance dogs, and had a 7 day hold to allow owner claim. I peeked in on them after they were settled into their run, and the rust and tan dog "talked" to me. His brother was the dominant one, and was guarding the food and water in the front of the kennel. So, I moved the white dog over and let the dog who was to become Drake come get a drink.
German Shepherds are my heart breed. My mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother were all Shepherd breeders. (They were also the oldest child in there family, as am I.) My earliest memory is sitting with my grandma's stud dog, Duke. I was a toddler, just a bit over a year old. I had his food pan of kibble between my chubby legs. I'd take a piece of kibble, he'd take it ever so delicately from my fingers, then I'd eat one. "One fo' 'ou and one fo' me" I'd say. I've often joked that Purina Dog Chow has made me the woman I am today.
During that hold week, I went over every other day (with my husband's blessing--perhaps we'd save a life) to assess them. I couldn't just bring any old dog in. I had to consider Lucky, my very dominant, possessive, jealous Jack Russell Terrier. I also had to be sure he wouldn't eat my calico cat Simona. Each time I went to visit, he started nagging at me. "Waaoooo, waaaaaoooo, waaaooo...." Yeah, I got adopted.
He came home, my husband liked him, everything was fine.
Until November 5. Early in the morning, about 2:30, I heard an uproar in the barn. It took me a couple minutes to realize that the tone of voice of Lucky was one I hadn't heard before. It took me about 10 minutes to dress, get my headlamp on and wobble down to the barn. I lost my heart as soon as I shone my light in.......a rabid raccoon was in with Lucky. Drake was in Spanky's stall, so I didn't know if he'd had any contact with the raccoon. But Lucky had. She had even more when it turned and snarled at me......she leaped on it and was doing her very best to kill something that was twice the size she was. I knew the raccoon had rabies. It was drooling BUCKETS of saliva, and neurological symptoms were very advanced. Contrary to wives' tales, there was no foaming, just two continuous strings of drool from either side of it's mouth. I hollered for my husband, put Lucky in a crate, and shoved the raccoon into another crate. We brought the coon up to the house, and by the time we got back up for him to go to work it was dead. This happened on a Sunday. Before we'd gone back to bed, we'd had an argument about contacting the authorities. I was under orders not to......and as things turned out, I wish I'd obeyed.
When I called Animal Control, they sent someone out. I spoke to his supervisor on the phone, as it turns out the fellow was new and had never handled a rabies case before. Not surprising, as while waiting for them I'd done some research in an attempt to understand what was about to happen. There hadn't been a case of rabies in this county since 2014. They told me that protocol here is any animal that has contact with a rabid raccoon is IMMEDIATELY taken to The Pit and euthanized. I kept asking why, as I didn't think Drake had had any contact. Drake had also had his rabies vaccine in July when I adopted him....I gave them his records. Lucky, on the other hand, I could only give the records for 2014, 2015, and 2016. I'd vaccinated her at a clinic in the park for 2017, and couldn't find her paperwork. The State protocol said animals with current vaccination were to be given a booster with five days. I kept asking why they were taking my dogs, and kept receiving the answer "That's the way we do it here." So, within the hour, my sweet little Lucky, my Service Dog who alerted if I was going to have a seizure, and my newly arrived Drake were unceremoniously taken and disposed of.
When all was said and done, the county admitted they were wrong to destroy Drake. Since I had his paperwork and his tag in hand, he shouldn't even have left the property. In Lucky's case, I would have paid for her to be "under the supervision of a veterinarian" for the 4 month quarantine if the option had been available. They gave me a fairly vague letter stating that "Due to an unfortunate incident" they would allow me to adopt a new pet and they would waive the fees. It didn't state that by accepting the letter, I couldn't seek further recompense. It didn't state that by accepting it, I had to maintain silence about the situation. So, I don't think I'm done with it yet. I was told they'd distribute flyers to advise the neighborhood about a rabies case. That didn't happen. I asked to be part of a plan to prevent this from happening again. Hasn't happened either. I offered to host a rabies vaccination clinic here.....hasn't happened either. My husband says to just leave it. Perhaps I will. *shrug*
So that's how I lost all four of my dogs in 2017.
