The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-06-21
FACTS AS TO MAD DOGS
THEY NEVER FRoTH AT MOUTH NOR HAVE BLooDSHoT EYES.
Are Harmless and Can Be Easily Killed in First Stages of the Dis ease-Symptoms. of Disease
 and How to Avert Spread.

New York Journal. "Ntnety-nine out of a hundred people 1 don't know mad dog when they see one. l The very symptoms which they believe 1 | indicate rabies are the surest tests that | a dog is not mad, 1 Dr. James McDonough, of the Watch | ung Kennels. who invited the school chill | dren of Montclair. N. J., to visit his dog l sanitarium last Saturday and observe from a safe place the action of a dog in the second and final stage of rabies. made this statement yesterday:
 Tn all my experience" said the doctor. "and I have been treating dogs for fif | teen years, have never seen a mad dog | froth at the mouth. On the contrary. the mouth of a dog that is really rabid is dry and parched. Neither have I ever seen a dog with rabies rush about like the | dogs we read about, with head lowered and eyes bloodshot. snapping and biting at everything with which he comes in | contact.
 1 '"rhe real mad dog seldom attacks un- less he is interfered with. I have fol- | lowed a mad dog over a country road and seen him trot by within two inches of people who were quietly conversing. not knowing that the animal was mad" The sudden hot weather having revived | the fear of mad dogs. an American re- porter visited MT. McDonough at his dog sanitarium in Montciair, and asked him about the prevalence of rabies and the l manner in which the danger may be ! averted. | Dr. McDonough smiled as he replied: | ~T can speak only for Montclair and l l am most positicve that there Is no epi- demic of rabies here. I don't believe ] there is a rabid dog in this town. have one dog here in my sanitarium that l
 am keeping under observation. He is very active and might bite you if you get too close to him; but I don't believe he is mad.
 There Is a great popular misconception | on the question of rabid dogs. firmly believe that If the public were properly | educated in the observance of dogs the cases of rabies would be fewer than they are at present And rabies is a rare dis ease at that. | "I think 1t desirable that the sum of information among the people be in-
 creased regarding dogs. both for the pur-
 pose of insuring greater safety to the people and for the prevention of the slaughter of a great number of pets who do not merit death. | Let me tell you the symptoms of ra- bies. There are two stages of the dis ease. In the first the dog is restless and uneasy. He can't keep still. He shifts about from one place to another, has a Tracking cough and toward the end of l the first stage begins to bite fitfully at the seat of inoculation. wherever 1t | may be.
 This stage lasts for from twenty four to thirty-six hours during which time the dog Is absolutely harmless Any one
 who has been educated to observe these symptoms can detect rabies at once in | the dog. I have often thought that na- | ture has made this provision in order
 that sufficient warning of the approach of rabies may be given before the dog be- 1 comes dangerous
 1 Well, it Is only after the dog has
 passed from the first to the second stage of the disease that he becomes danger ous And even with regard to the second.
 or violent, stage there Is great popular
 misconception.
 "A general rule to follow with regard
 to all dogs is this: Always turn out for
 a dog that won't turn out for you If you | follow that rule you will be compara- | lively safe from any rabid dog that comes your way.
 When the dog passes into the second
 stage of rabies he becomes still more
 restless. It is then that they wander
 off They do not go at a rapid pace. they do not froth at the mouth, their eyes
 do not become bloodshot. Perhaps they
 hang their heads-all sick dogs do that
 and they run until they drop from ex- | haustion. stopping by fits and starts to
 rest but never being able to rest long
 because the nervous tension of the dis
 ease keeps them going. If not intercep-
 ted and killed they will finally fall dead.
 I have seen them wear their toe nails | to the quick. During this time they will bite things that come in their way. Understand that.
 But they will not go out of their way to attack anything
 Here is an illustration out of my own experience. It happened right here in Montclair An inoffensive- looking dog | nIA kl.~ nANv attention whatever In appearance. to the unpracticed eye. he resembled any other healthy dog. A little child got in its way and the dog threw the child down and bit her.
 "A crowd gathered. but no attempt was made to stop the dog. No cry of mad dog was raised. l happened to pass and stopped to make inquiries and learned | that the child had been bitten. I got a description of the animal and started af- ter him in my wagon. Half an hour later my attention was | attracted to dog on the outskirts of the | town which resembled the dog that had bitten the child. In two minutes I dis covered that 1t was mad. I followed 1t. The dog sauntered along. winding in and out between fences. lying down. then get ting up nervously and starting off again. "Once a small dog got in the mad ones way, and the later bit him once and started on again. Two hundred yards | further down the road a man and a wo- man were standing at the side of the road talking. The dog walked right past | them without attempting any violence, l Next he approached a stoop where a man was about to descend. Fearing that the | man would be bitten, I shouted a warn- | | ing, but the man merely laughed at me. | | and. coming down the steps snapped his fingers at the dog, which actually dodged him and ambled on down the road. The fingers of the foolhardy man were within two inches of the dogs mouth. yet he was not bitten. After this the beast wandered along | the side of a creek. tried to drink. but couldn't, and walked two hundred yards up the bed of the stream before I finally | killed him. I had a policeman with me. | and do you know that officer refused to shoot the dog He said 1t wasn't mad, l and he saw no reason for putting 1t out of the way. Nevertheless. within twenty three | days the dog that had been bitten up the | road died of rabies, and thirty-three days | later the child died of the same disease. 1 I sent the brains of the two dogs to the | Pasteur Institute and in course of time 1 learned that both dogs had been afflicted | with rabies. "On the other hand, I had a dog at one | time. the property of two maiden ladies | in town. that was sent to me to be killed | because it was frothing at the mouth and | GhaWiDp other a1ia0ad atOnS of rahfaa