Dogs attack two 12-year-old students (Authorities have 10 days to find the dogs)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20101130/NEWS01/711309872#dogs-attack-two-students

Published Tuesday November 30, 2010

By Jason Kuiper
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Two 12-year-old students were attacked by a pair dogs after getting off a school bus Monday afternoon at 36th and Burdette Streets.

The boy and girl suffered serious bites to their fingers, arms, buttocks, ankles, calves, feet and hip, according to information from the Nebraska Humane Society.

The Humane Society is trying to find the dogs so they can determine if the children need rabies shots. Authorities have 10 days to find the dogs. If the animals aren't located, the children will have to have shots as a precaution.

Descriptions of the dogs vary, but they are believed to be either pit bulls or Rottweilers or possibly one of each. One of the dogs is gray; the other is tannish-brown with a docked tail.

The children were taken to separate hospitals by their parents and did not require overnight stays, said Mark Langan, vice president of field operations for the Humane Society. Both children needed stitches, he said.

The attack happened about 4 p.m. A man in the area yelled at the dogs and scared them away.

Anyone with information on the dogs should call the Humane Society at 402-444-7800 extension 1.

[petronius]

1. Poor kids, that really sucks

What's the reason for trying to avoid just giving the vaccine anyway? It would seem like a reasonable precaution to me...

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. I had a friend whose family had to have them several years ago and it cost them thousands of dollars

[petronius]

6. That makes sense - I guess with no identified owner they'd be on the hook for the cost

Or their insurance, which would try to avoid the expense as a matter of course. I imagine it must be safe to wait the 10 days, but I always like to err on the side of ultra-caution...

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Yeah, with rabies I would want to err on the side of caution as well.

[Journeyman]

4. The shots are quite painful, too, or were some years ago. . .

maybe that's changed, but I remember years ago the shots had to be given in the abdomen and were quite painful.

[Demoiselle]

5. It's changed.

Now the shots are administered in the deltoid or, for children, the thigh muscle.
I'm under the impression that the shots are no longer that painful either.

[FSogol]

8. True. They are no worse than other injections these days. n/t

[kestrel91316]

15. Day One is nasty if you have a bite wound. If you do, the immunoglobulin

has to be injected into the area around the bite - a miserable thing. But the other shots in the series are in the arm, tiny, and no big deal at all.

[AnArmyVeteran]

11. I had rabies shots when I was 7 and they didn't hurt.

I was playing in the surf swimming in the little waves when a dog rushed up and bit me in the head. He drew blood so I had to start rabies shots until the dog was tested. I had a few shots and then when results of the dog came up negative for rabies I stopped getting any more. I still remember having the doctor pinching up the skin on my stomach and inserting the needle. Maybe I am the exception, but the shots I did have didn't hurt.

Maybe the pain goes up as time goes by. I don't know. But I was thankful in my case I didn't feel much of anything.

[kestrel91316]

13. Hasn't been like that for THIRTY YEARS, lol. The newer rabies shots

are no big hairy deal at all (except for Day One) - ask me how I know.

[Art_from_Ark]

22. They might not be a big hairy deal now

but they sure sucked big time in 1968

[northernlights]

9. my understanding is it is a tough vaccine to undergo

I know someone who had to have it. She apparently had an undiagnosed immune disorder and it triggered a major reaction. She ended up in a coma for a week or two, with high fever. She spent a long time after that first in isolation and then had to wear a mask. Also partially paralyzed, permanently.

[kestrel91316]

16. It is NOT tough. Day One is unpleasant because of the immunoglobulin

having to be injected into the area around the bite. But the other shots in the series are tiny and go in the arm and are virtually painless and without side effects.

We haven't used the old, nasty, horrible duck embryo rabies vaccine in the US in 30 years.

[Maine-ah]

17. it's also a series of shots.

three shots, spaced over a couple of weeks, but from what I've been reading the pain is no worse than a tetanus shot. You can have it in the arm or the leg.

Other than expense, I would see no reason why. It's $100 - $200 a shot.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. That's awful. Those poor, poor kids!

[tomm2thumbs]

10. lucky to be alive

[kestrel91316]

12. Fortunately the current rabies post-exposure prophylaxis is both

safe and highly effective if given correctly and in a timely manner (hence the 10 day deadline). There is virtually zero chance of contracting rabies if you get the shots in time.

[petronius]

18. So the 10 day wait is well within the safety window?

That was the part that gave me pause, it just seems like it would be better to do it anyway and not run the risk of misidentifying the dogs or something. But, I hadn't considered the expense...

[kestrel91316]

19. Yep, that time period is long established. Rabies virus travels to the brain very slowly.

That delay is why it is basically the only viral disease that can be completely prevented by treatment AFTER exposure.

[Danger Mouse]

14. Why the fuck were those dogs running loose so they could attack kids?

Their owner needs to be charged, and those dogs need to be kept locked up.

[awoke_in_2003]

20. they attacked humans...

usually they get put down for that.

[Danger Mouse]

21. True. They probably should be destroyed.

Shame, too. :(

[TorchTheWitch]

23. depends on the circumstances

In this circumstance, they may or may not get put down... if they're found and positively identified.

There are very legitimate reasons for a dog to attack a human, and the law takes this into account. Many factors make the decision on whether or not a dog that attacked is destroyed or not, and for dogs that have no history of having done it before and have an identified owner often get a pass for a first time offense with the consideration given to the reason for the attack and how bad the injuries are. However, if they do get a pass they have to follow strict rules like always being fenced in and whenever out in public to not only be leashed but muzzled, and if the owner ever breaks the rules the dog is then confiscated.

It really pisses me off that people let their dogs run loose like this. These poor kids should never have had to deal with this terrible experience and all because some jerk of an owner let them run loose.

[awoke_in_2003]

24. "pisses me off that people let their dogs run loose like this"...

me too. It never works to the dog's benefit.