We've been in contact off and on with the gentleman from Florida who lost Peanut. I sought him out initially when, after we came back to North Carolina and Orange County Animal Services (OCAS) demanded we hand her over to them. We were told that two veterinary opinions from Florida weren't enough to persuade them to give Peanut back to us (background: The Current (dire, complicated) Situation, The Story Of Peanut, F.A.Q.).
We found him, through a couple of postings Facebook. The first was on the Brevard County Lost Pets group: https://www.facebook.com/BLP123/posts/948545878493131.
The second was on the Central FL Hog Dogs group: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=292959740899782&set=gm.757185687693752&type=1 This second posting confirms the date she was lost and injured.
The man that lost her, JD Drawdy, reached out to me via e-mail and phone. He told me she was injured by a wild hog, as we suspected. He said he wanted to help, and he'd be happy to see Peanut as a pet in a good home (ours). I passed his contact information to OCAS.
This is when I tried to appeal to the director, Bob Marotto's sense of reason, to no avail (screen grab here). So I held out hope that he'd connect with Mr. Drawdy, and straighten this out.
They said they tried for about a week to contact him, and couldn't. He had stopped talking to me at this point, but thanks to the help of Brevard County Lost Pets, we got a new contact number for him, and also sent that information to OCAS.
Just prior to the holiday last week, I received this email from the OCAS director:
From: Bob Marotto <bmarotto@orangecountync.gov>
Date: Wed, Nov 26, 2014 at 12:01 PM
Subject: Animal Services Communication
To: Josh Johnson <XXXXXXXXXXXX>
Cc: Irene Phipps <iphipps@orangecountync.gov>, Ashley Miller <apowers@orangecountync.gov>
Mr. Johnson:
Despite several efforts, we have not been able to reach Mr. Drawdy nor leave a message for him using the new number you provided (see below). Accordingly, we are unable to gather any additional information and thus we must require that “Peanut” be quarantine for six months pursuant to North Carolina’s rabies control regulations.
It is important that we transfer “Peanut” to Cole Park as previously discussed no later than the close of business next Wednesday, December 3. We should be able to have the quarantine document prepared for signature by all parties on Monday and we’ll make the transfer as soon as possible upon completion of the quarantine agreement. As she will have responsibility for handling that process, please contact Ms. Phipps if you have any questions.
As I believe we have previously indicated, the daily board for “Peanut” owed at Orange County Animal Services must be paid prior to the transfer. (It may be paid with credit card, cash or cashier’s check but not a personal check). As of today), the board owed is $525.00 ($15 per day times 35 days). Each additional day of board will add $15 to the fees that must be paid prior to “Peanut’s” transfer.
I also wanted to inform you that no appeal is provided in these cases under North Carolina’s rabies control regulations for such decisions. However, I have conferred with our Local Health Director, Dr. Colllen Bridger given your concern about our course of action since through delegation Animal Services exercises authority for rabies control vested in the local health director in North Carolina. She and I concur that our decision to require a 6 month quarantine is necessary and appropriate.
In closing, I would again relay that we wish that there were responsible alternatives but we don’t feel that there are given what is known and unknown about “Peanut.” Especially important in our considerations are that the vaccination history of the dog is unknown by all accounts as is the origin of the wound and the significant concerns with human and animal health alike that spring from the ecology and epidemiology of rabies in the southeastern United States.
Sincerely,
Bob Marotto
Director
Orange County Animal Services
(919) 968-2287
Pursuant to applicable North Carolina General Statutes, any electronic mail message sent from this account or received by this account, and any attachments thereto, may be considered a public record; and as such they are subject to inspection by anyone at anytime.
So I redoubled my efforts to make sure Mr. Drawdy connected with OCAS, and reach out to any experts I could find who could give us a better understanding of the real risk in this situation.
One of the first people I contacted was the CDC. Here's that correspondence:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rabies (CDC) <rabies@cdc.gov>
Date: Fri, Nov 28, 2014 at 5:36 PM
Subject: FW: RESPONSE REQUIRED: Topic: rabies feral hog, Priority: Medium, Mode: Email [ ref:_00DU0YCBU._500U0G1yU7:ref ]
To: "XXXXXXXXX" <XXXXXXXXXXXX>
It would be unlikely for dog getting rabies from hog after being gored by a task.Although not impossible, hogs are rarely reported rabid.No rabid hog was reported in Florida in 2013, 2012, 2011 or 2010.Overall, it is unlikely that dog would develop rabies following below described incident.Incubation period in dogs may vary from few days (7-10) till 2-3 month, depending on severity of the wounds inflicted by rabid animal and its proximity to head.I would recommend to owner just to remain vigilant and visit veterinarian if there are any neurological symptoms observed in next few months, but as I said below hogs rarely are reported rabid andfrom your description it seems that hog was healthy animal defending itself.Hope this answer your question.If not, please let me know.
Richard
---------------- Original Email -----------
From : null
To :cdcinfo@cdc.gov
Date :2014-11-28 14:14:39
Subject :CDC-INFO: Inquiry
Subject: Rabies and Feral Hogs
From: General Public
Contact: Josh Johnson
Email Address: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Your Question: If a dog is bitten by, or more likely, gored by a tusk from, a feral hog, what is the risk of infection for rabies? The dog in question has been isolated long enough to have shown signs of other diseases (psudeo-rabies, etc), and is in good health.
It's unclear if the dog was vaccinated previously. It was given the rabies vaccine shortly after the injury. It has been 6 weeks since it was injured.
The injury was a 3/8" puncture under the front foreleg (the "armpit" area). It was fully healed about 4 days after the injury.
The injury occurred in East-Central Florida (Brevard County).
Thank you for your time and insight,
Josh Johnson
I was completely upfront about her lack of vaccination, and the nature of her wound, and yet, the rabies experts at the CDC tell us that this situation only warrants a 2-3 month observation period at best.
We have hard evidence that she was injured on October 10th, 2014. This means that as of today, December 4th, it's been a few days short of two full months since she was hurt.
At this point, even if she was not injured by a feral pig, it's been long enough for her to show signs of infection.
In spite of that, I held on to my correspondence with the CDC while I re-connected with Mr. Drawdy.
Mr Drawdy told me he sent them a lengthy e-mail (I was not CC'd, I have no idea yet what he said). He also said he called the 4 or 5 times and left voicemails.
He called Bob Marotto, the director of OCAS, on Monday, December 1st, and said he talked to him directly. He said that OCAS wanted to take his statement and wanted a copy of his driver's license.
On Tuesday, he told me he was contacted by an OCAS officer. I didn't get a chance to call him back, so I don't know what was said, but his voicemail sounded positive.
This morning, December 4th, Stacy and I were both left voicemails on our phones around 9 AM, from Bob Marotto, telling us that we need to arrange quarantine for Peanut by the end of the week (tomorrow).
I sent Bob this e-mail:
from: Josh Johnson <XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX>
to: Bob Marotto <bmarotto@orangecountync.gov>
cc: stacy morse <XXXXXXXXXXXXX>date: Thu, Dec 4, 2014 at 9:55 AM
subject: Peanut
Stacy and I received your voicemails this morning. I'm sorry we haven't reached out since last week. Looking back, I misread your last communication - I didn't notice that you said the papers would be ready on Monday, I apologize for that (we were waiting for you to call us and tell us the paperwork was ready).
However, I am a little shocked today to hear that we're still proceeding with quarantine for Peanut.
The man who lost her finally talked to me again and told me that he's talked to you (you personally), and an officer from OCAS this week (officer Miller, if I remember correctly), and gave a statement.
If he told you what he told me, he's confirmed that Peanut was injured by a wild pig, as was always suspected.
This means her quarantine has to be reconsidered. Further, I reached out to the CDC last week, and they told me:
"It would be unlikely for dog getting rabies from hog after being gored by a task.
Although not impossible, hogs are rarely reported rabid.
No rabid hog was reported in Florida in 2013, 2012, 2011 or 2010.
Overall, it is unlikely that dog would develop rabies following below described incident.
Incubation period in dogs may vary from few days (7-10) till 2-3 month, depending on severity of the wounds inflicted by rabid animal and its proximity to head.
I would recommend to owner just to remain vigilant and visit veterinarian if there are any neurological symptoms observed in next few months, but as I said below hogs rarely are reported rabid and
from your description it seems that hog was healthy animal defending itself."
(I'll forward the entire message to you after I send this e-mail - I made it a point to mention that the dog in question's vaccination history was unclear).
We know the exact date of her injury (10/10/2014), we know how she was injured (by a wild pig). This raises many issues: first, the risk of rabies, as the CDC states above, is extremely low. Second, strict quarantine is not recommended. Finally, the observation period suggested is 2-3 months. We're a couple of days shy of 2 months since she was injured. Her injury was very small and healed quickly. She was injured fairly close to her head.
So even in the highly unlikely event that she was indeed exposed to rabies, it's been so long since that possible exposure, that by now she would be showing signs of infection. That's just not the case.
Before we initiate any transfer, we're due an explanation of why, even in the light of this new information, quarantine is still being pursued.
Thank you,
Josh Johnson
p.s.
Please CC XXXXXXXXXX in future correspondence, to keep her in the loop. I'm sure she would have noticed the Monday thing from last week, sorry again about that.
So, I messed up - I was waiting for them to contact me, and didn't realize they were waiting on us. I really wish they had called on Monday when the paperwork was ready.
But I thought that maybe an appeal to reason would finally work. I was sadly mistaken:
Mr. Johnson and Ms. Morse:I am following up on the phone messages I left earlier today for the two of you regarding Peanut, and responding to your last email correspondence. As I suggested in the phone message, we have still not been able to obtain any new information that changes our assessment in Peanut’s case, despite our best and continuing efforts. We have spoken with the person you referenced, but have yet to receive any of the documentation from him that we have requested. Therefore, we are still requiring at this time a six (6) month quarantine for Peanut at a veterinary clinic.
When I last communicated with you by email, I asked that you make arrangements to move Peanut from Orange County Animal Services to Cole Park Veterinary Clinic by the end of yesterday (Wednesday, December 3, 2014). Neither Animal Control Manager Irene Phipps nor I heard anything from you about making the necessary arrangements until your latest email from today.
We understand fully that this situation is difficult, and that not everyone agrees with the decision we have made. We have tried diligently to work with the previous owner and others to obtain information that would allow a different outcome, but have been unable to gather the necessary information thus far. Should additional information come available, we will remain open to looking into the case further, but at this time, it is still our policy that Peanut be transferred to a private veterinary hospital for a 6-month quarantine.
We care about Peanut and her well-being, and we are trying to work with you as well. We are therefore extending the timeline to allow you to make these arrangements by the close of business on Friday, December 5, 2014. What this entails on your part is making payment for the daily board fees for “Peanut” since she has been at Orange County Animal Services and signing the dog’s quarantine agreement (which will be co-signed by a practice veterinarian and Animal Services representative). Please be sure to coordinate with Ms. Phipps today and confirm your arrangements with Cole Park so that we can move Peanut from Animal Services to Cole Park tomorrow.
In closing, I will add that decisions of this kind are never easy. We strive to find a balance between being sympathetic to specific cases and in maintaining our commitment to public health. While it may be unlikely that a risk exists, it cannot be ruled out, and we do take our responsibility to minimize any public health risks seriously. We hope ultimately that you can understand this and that Peanut will come out of the quarantine healthy and enjoy a long and happy life. You can contact me directly at 919.968.2287 if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Bob Marotto
Director
Orange County Animal Services
-- snip --
Pursuant to applicable North Carolina General Statutes, any electronic mail message sent from this account or received by this account, and any attachments thereto, may be considered a public record; and as such they are subject to inspection by anyone at anytime.
So now we're stuck. We're making arrangements today to put Peanut into quarantine.
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