Has your dog been vaccinated for rabies?

Whether you own a dog or not, do you know the

symptoms of the virus?
Kevin Holt wishes everyone did.
Holt was eight years old when a dog that hadn't been vaccinated put him at serious risk of
contracting the virus himself.
" lived close enough to my school that had the option of walking or taking the bus," Holt says.
" chose to walk that day because it was nice out, but it was very close to being a fatal mistake."
!ramatic as the buildup sounds, his encounter was far from a "u#o situation. $he dog didn't
burst free of the chain or leap the fence between them. nstead, he noticed the animal
"shambling around the yard with half a foot of chain dragging behind it," considered petting it,
then decided against it because of its confused demeanor.
%aybe ten feet later, he heard the same fence #ingle. $he dog had slipped out through a gap in
another corner of the yard.
" don't know that he was coming after me," Holt says. "He certainly bit me, regardless of
whatever made him decide to come out in the first place."
t got him good, too. &earl'white dots still line his upper ankle where the little dog ("$hink
grandma's terrier si)e," Holt said* managed to find a bit of e+posed flesh. Holt ran home crying,
his parents were alert enough to know the signs, and within an hour Holt was in the hospital.
$hough the dog died, it was at least given the better of two possible e+its. ,nimal control
captured the animal the same day- had they not, things wouldn't have stopped nearly so .uickly.
/enna 0tregowski, a veterinarian technician, said in a post to her website that afflicted animals
die within about a week of contracting the rabies virus. n the time between infection and death,
they can suffer a host of symptoms, including confusion, mania, and severe headaches.
1oaming at the mouth, perhaps the most well'known symptom in popular culture, is the result of
neck and head paralysis and the ensuing inability to swallow.
""linical signs of rabies are rarely definitive," $he %erck 2eterinary %anual says about the virus.
"$he most reliable signs, regardless of species, are acute behavioral changes and une+plained
progressive paralysis."
$he manual also notes two types of rabies in dogs3 furious and paralytic. 4oth names match
their descriptions well. n general, however, the guide cautions that the change itself, not the
actual mood the animals shifts to, is the biggest warning sign.
"$his division is of limited practical value because of the variability of signs and the irregular
lengths of the phases," the manual says. n plainer 5nglish, if a dog is acting weird, stay away.
&revention is by far the easiest way to deal with the virus, 0tregowski says. !ogs and other pets
should always be vaccinated. !ue to concerns of overuse in the one'year vaccines, a three'
year version is now available.
"6nfortunately, there is no cure or effective treatment for rabies," 0tregowski says. ",nimals with
obvious and advanced signs of rabies must be euthani)ed."
7esser'known signs of the virus include
8 9eneral restlessness
8 Hypersensitivity to visual and audio stimuli
8 4ehavior that is not hostile but still less friendly than your dog displays around other
animals
With any luck, you'll never see those signs (or any others* in any animals you come across.
,dvances in science have made treating the disease far easier when it comes to human
patients, but it's still a nasty ordeal.
" felt like death for a week," Holt said of his own e+perience. "t was like having a kid's body and
the energy of an old man."
Holt now considers the e+perience more educational than traumatic. 1or instance, he says it
helped him identify a potentially rabid raccoon during a camping trip with friends as a teen.
4ut that edge of fear is still there. He thinks it probably always will be.
"Hopefully more people learn about it through reading than my way," he says, laughing. "
wouldn't recommend my way to anyone."
!51:$;:
Feature Writing
tells the reader a story. t has a beginning (lead*, middle and end. t uses .uotes liberally and
allows the reader to see the story through detailed description and vivid writing.