Canadian Raccoon Rabies
Following a skirmish between a rabid raccoon and two bullmastiff dogs inside an Animal Services vehicle on Dec. 2, officials will drop 45,000 vaccine baits by footy and helicopter in a raccoon rabies blitz campaign. The vaccine baits were ordered after a raccoon tested positive for rabies following a skirmish it had with a two bullmastiff dogs. Two days after the scuffle, another three rabies cases had been found among 14 dead raccoons picked up. The findings surprised officers because no raccoon has tested positive for rabies in Ontario for 10 years. The vaccine bait effort was increased to include much of the surrounding area where the three latest rabid raccoons were found. The two dogs, Mr. Satan and Hell’s Bells — that were involved in the squabble with the rabid raccoon last week — remain in isolation with the city. The fate of the dogs has not been determined. The owner of the massive dogs ostensibly cannot afford to quarantine the dogs for the recommended three to six months to determine if they have rabies. When it comes to raccoon issues, the busiest time of year is in the spring and early summer when mothers are nesting. But this time of year is also busy with raccoons looking for warm places to spend the winter and trying extra hard to get into attics and crawl spaces.
