New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-06-18
MAD DOG sCAREs
A STUDENT OF DOG LIFE FINDS RABIES. AN xx
TREMELY RARE DISEASE-ADvICE
TO DOG OWNERS.

To the Editor OF The Tribune
Sir; With the approach OF summer comes the
usual mad dog scare These scares in a great
majority of cases the result of Ignorance and
prejudice For eight or nine years / made IL a
practice personally 10 investigate mad dog
scares- found that in ninety-nIne cases out OF
every hundred the scare was grOundIess; that
the dog not mad. and that all the fantas-
tic and terrible Incidents were filed in by the
imaginative reporter
have been close student OF dog life from my
boyhood- I have bred, trained and treated dogs
of most breeds. and although I have visited the
kennels. refugees and dog pounds of various cOun-
tries and seen many thousands Of stray "vasabond
dogs, 1 have Yet to a genuine case OF rabies.
This. may say. is a common experience with vet
Urinary surgeons. Hundreds of them. after years
Of active practice. declare that although they may
have been called upon TO treat dogs for all kinds
OF ailments they have not seen a case OF true
rabies. Take the testimony Of DR. StockweH. a
celebrated authority dog diseases He says:
True rabies presents multiple and varied phenOm-
eha without a single constant feature, hence its
manifestations 1bat il is a ersafiv mOotef noinf
temper toothache, earache. epilepsy, and the whole
JeCt, are constantly mistaken for it,
Personally, after more than thirty years expert
comparative medicine. l have vet to meet with a
scores of so-called rabid dogs submitted to me for
my inspection l have found one and all to be SUI
eases.
This. as said before. Is not by any means an
uncommon experience among veterinary surgeons.
In the spring of 1897 mad dog scare was
raised IN London, England. by a certain class OF
people who had great commercial interest In
raising mad dog scares (muzzle manufacturers):
they, as usual. received every assistance from
credulous public and sensational press The
Board Of Agriculture finally took the matter up.
and issued order the effect that all dogs ap-
pearing the public highway should be tightly
muzzled with wire cage muzzIe invented by the
aforesaid manufacturers. During the first three
were seized in the streets ''vagabOnd strays,''
and not a single case OF rabies discovered
among them.
1t should be borne in mind that dogs like men
are subject to certain diseases They have their
diseases OF puppyhoOd and of old age; they have
tner StOmachic and nervous troubles Just as We
have and require intelligent treatment and kind
attention to pull them through these attacks II
dog owners would only take more intelligent IN
dog
Dogs to be kept healthy should be fed twice a
day regularly consider the scraps from the table
the best food for dogs Of all sizes. The dog gets
a change which is beneficial Never try TO make
an old dog eat dog biscuits; if he can eat them he
Will 90 so without much urging i have had dogs
that would have starved rather than them.
a dog should have a meal of twice a week.
and cooked liver Always that your dog
Is well supplied with plenty of good clean water
dogs will not drink from a dirty bowl nor will
they drink foul water unless they forced to IL
from extreme thirst.
Always look the teeth of your puppy; this IS
a matter of the greatest Importance as they have
thelr teething hts and other such troubles. like
other infants Feel the gums occasionally, and il
you find loose tooth draw 1t: the roots per
fectly straight. and IL be drawn by the fingers.
treat your dog lnteiAgently and humanely. and
you will have a friend and companion who will
stand by you and with you under all circumstance
ARTHUR WESTCOTT.