The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1911-08-11
THE OWOSSO TIMES
EDMUND o. DEWEY. EDITOR.
OWOSSO. MICH. AUG. II, 1911.
Muzzle the Dogs.

Lansing, August THE state
board of health has issued the fol-
lowing:
Whenever a person has been bit
ten by dog the first thought is and
ought 10 be the possibility of rabies.
Because of an old superstition it has
become common practice to have the
dog Immediately put to death. When
ever the animal is suspected of hav-
ing rabies, this procedure is highly
fallacious and cannot be too strong
ly condemned, as ii often makes the
positive determination of whether or
not the dog had the disease impos-
sible. Rabies can only be communi-
Gated by animals affected with rabies
and only short time before the ap-
pearance of symptoms. The dog
should I be tied or locked up and
closely watched. If symptoms dc
not appear in the suspected animal
within a week, the wound has not
been inoculated with the virus of
rabies. If the dog dies within the
period mentioned. the brain or bet
ter, the entire head, should be i'm
mediately removed, packed in ice to
prevent decomposition, and sent t,
the Pasteur Institute at Ann Arbor,
Mich, for examination, and if the
suspicion is confirmed by laboratory
findings and the diagnosis is posi-
tive, the individual who was bitten
should without further delay be Civ
en-, the Pasteur treatment.
While the number OF deaths from
rabies occupies no conspicuous place
on the mortality tables of our state.
the horror of the disease, its newt
able fatality and its gruesome term
ination makes 1t one of the most
dreaded infections known to man.
Nearly all animals are susceptible
TO rabies About 80 per cent of the
cases occur in dogs, about Is per
cent in cattle. Wolves, skunks,
cats and other mammals are occas-
iOnally infected. The contagious
virus is present in the nerve tissue of
infected animals and is most often
communicated through the saliva.
The bite of rabid animal brings the
contagious saliva in contact with the
nerve fbres, through which it travels
70 the cells of the brain and spinal
cord. The period between infection
and the appearance of the first symp-
toms Of rabies varies from few
weeks to several months, and during
this period Pasteur's treatment may
DE given and the disease prevented,
Over go per cent of all cases OF
rabies results from being bitten by
dogs. 1t is therefore of highest i'm
portance that the muzzling of dogs
be enforced. In Great Britain the
number of cases of rabies in 1852
was 312, at which time muzzling be-
gan to be enforced. In 1892 the
number of cases had been reduced to
SO and the muzzling ordinance which
Had met with a great deal of opposi-
ton was relaxed. After this the
number Of cases rapidly increased to
672 in 1895, after which muzzling
was again enforced and the number
of cases was reduced to none in 1900.
Let us profit by the experience of
Great Britain and remove this ter
rible affliction from our midst. When
animals cannot bite they cannot
communicate the disease and the
eontagion of rabies will die with the
dying of the last infected Many of
the contrivances sold as muzzles are
not effective and are simply attempts
to evade the law. In town where
a muzzling order is in force unless
dog wears an efficient muzzle, one
that prevents the dog from biting, he
should be looked upon in the same
light as dog that does not wear one.
Very truly yours,
Robert l. Dixon, NJ d., Secy.