The Fear of Rabies: 100 Years Ago & 1 Year Ago

Mad Cat Wounds Three, Haskell News, Haskell, Oklahoma, 13 Sep 1917, page 1, column 6; digital image newspapers.com, (http://www.newspapers.com: accessed 14 Sep 2014)

After a little more research, I was able to uncover an article about the actual attack. The father, Ben, and two children, Audrey aged three and Frank aged seven, had actually been attacked by a mad cat, not a mad dog! But, their dog had also been infected.Last summer, I had a rabies scare, too. I was running in my neighborhood when two dogs came from behind me and the larger dog, a female pit bull, started jumping on me. The jumps were painful, but with the third jump she also bit me. I ran up to a house, and both dogs stood staring at me. At the time, I didn’t understand it, but I’ve been told that I was no longer a target for them because I stopped running.

(Remember, you can’t outrun a dog and it will be more likely to see you as a target if you are running! You are better off walking slowly away while keeping your eye on the dog. Do not make eye contact. Do not smile and show your teeth.)

The back of my upper leg the evening of the attack. This is the bite mark and you can see the bruising from each tooth. The areas where she jumped on me with her nails bruised about the same amount. The biggest light area on the bottom has a red spot – this was the only puncture wound but it was enough that I could have gotten rabies is she had rabies.

(For more information on what to do if an aggressive dog threatens you, check out this CBS News link.)

Do we share common ancestors? I’d love to talk! Please leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net.