my dog is on a 6 month quarantine

[abiyhayil]

My dog found a groundhog under our deck this morning when we went out to hang laundry. Thankfully DS was napping! She fought with this thing for 10-15 minutes. First I tried to get her off by squirting her with the hose (she normally runs and hides from it. I go in the house and email DH and her shelter that she came from. I go back outside and chase her off with the broom. The poor ground hog is still alive so I call my dad. He tells me to call animal control. It turns out her rabies shot was expired so now I have a mandatory court date and a dog in quarantine We can't get the animal tested for rabies not even for a fee. Is there a possibility of running blood titers at this point to check immunity? We may have to pay to have her quarantined and I can't imagine the cost. I didn't notice any blood, but she is still covered in mud. I was in nursing school and 5 months pregnant when I asked DH to check on their shots and get them up to date, I gave them the 5 in 1 last summer and all he had to do was check their rabies Any advice?

[WaitingForKiddos]

So the groundhog is alive and gone? If it's still around I'd imagine they could just take te groundhog in for testing.

I kinda get the feel that the AC person is ruling with an iron fist.

I was under the impression, at least here in Ca, that quarantine was at the owner's home.

If her titers show rabies immunization, which I bet they will, I think it would be a good idea to present this to the animal court judge.

[Alyantavid]

6 months is just crazy!

Here, it's 10 days if you don't have proof of rabies vax, which we didn't since dh does all the vaxes himself. And the quarantine has to be done at the animal shelter or a vet's office.

I'd talk to your vet.

[abiyhayil]

They took the ground hog alive and said it will be euthanized but not automatically tested and I would have to call to see if I could have it tested for a fee. The dept of agriculture said no way. My vet said they could test titers, but I need permission to bring her in, and the dept of agriculture is gone for the weekend : (

[lonegirl]

Why would they not test the ground hog? Do they not want to euthanize it? They have to send the brain/skull to be tested (we had to do this with a bear skull at one hosp).

Originally Posted by Alyantavid

6 months is just crazy!

Here, it's 10 days if you don't have proof of rabies vax, which we didn't since dh does all the vaxes himself. And the quarantine has to be done at the animal shelter or a vet's office.

I'd talk to your vet.

Is your hubby a vet? The vets I work with vaccs their own pets and just do a certificate just as they would for any other client.

[WaitingForKiddos]

Call me crazy but it makes no sense how they are approaching this. They have the animal but won't test it and are instead treating it as if your dog was in a fight with Cujo.

Weird.

[abiyhayil]

It is weird! my mom thought it was a ten day quarantine, so I double checked in case they said 6 weeks but nope 6 months. She was due 04/2009 so I wouldn't be surprised if her titers came back ok. The officer said they were going to kill the animal, but the state would not pay to test it and to call to see if I could pay a fee to have it done. And no hubby is an english teacher, but he would've had to take the dogs in to the clinic since I had nursing school, DS and DD in the oven! I can't get the titers run b/c she is in quarantine and if we violated that they would put her down : ( DH wants totake her to the spca to avoid the 'hassle'

[rhiOrion]

It makes no sense at all. I feel as though if they have the offending groundhog they should be the ones responsible for proving that it did have rabies.

And you said you can't even see any bites/scratches, right?

I'm having trouble imagining a groundhog even living through a fight with a dog, even less doing any actual damage to the dog. But my experience with groundhogs involves one that was kept as a pet, so maybe I'm off base.

But even if they can't test the groundhog for some reason... rabies shows up in less than 6 months, right? I mean, isn't that why we routinely do 10 day quarantines of dogs that bite humans? To watch for signs of rabies?

[rhiOrion]

Originally Posted by abiyhayil

It is weird! my mom thought it was a ten day quarantine, so I double checked in case they said 6 weeks but nope 6 months. She was due 04/2009 so I wouldn't be surprised if her titers came back ok. The officer said they were going to kill the animal, but the state would not pay to test it and to call to see if I could pay a fee to have it done. And no hubby is an english teacher, but he would've had to take the dogs in to the clinic since I had nursing school, DS and DD in the oven! I can't get the titers run b/c she is in quarantine and if we violated that they would put her down : ( DH wants totake her to the spca to avoid the 'hassle'

So is it a home quarantine? Do you think you could call around to some vets in the area and see if any would be willing to come to your house to draw the titer? Do you have a mobile vet clinic in the area?

[abiyhayil]

Maybe a farm vet would come out? That's a great idea, I'll have to check monday with the department of agriculture for permission to have anyone but my husband in contact with her.

[WaitingForKiddos]

Perhaps this is a situation where it's easier to ask for forgivness than permission? Your dept of Ag seems TOTALLY crazy. I don't know if I'd be asking them things which can grant them even more power. If you're going to ask somethig from them it ought to he their written policy that lays out your situation...all the spicifics. Still seems very weird that they are treating this as a confirmed rabies case.

I'd just have a vet come out, do the blood draw, and I'd talk to the vet about the cases or rabies he/she has seen and heard of...then call dept of ag with the rests. 'oh so pooch is showing good titers for rabies! Isn't this great news!!' It also can't hurt to start looking into rabies titers information yourself so the results make sense.

[Arduinna]

Years ago we had our dogs on home quarantine from animal control after I called them, after the dogs got something, but it wasn't a big deal, no one even came back.