Work stories: Rabies edition

We've had many incidences lately where rabies exposure protocol has had to be utilized and scrutinized. Basically, no one wins when a bite occurs, whether it involves a human victim or not.

My first story is still in progress, but it's been a doozy so far and should be resolved today.

Two huskies were picked up by animal control Friday morning. They had killed a raccoon, the owner was on her way and the raccoon had been sent off for testing. We were informed of this case specifically to ensure that everything was done correctly. If proof of current rabies vaccination was shown, the dogs could receive boosters and go home. If not, the owner would have to arrange six month quarantine or the dogs would be euthanized.

The owner showed up around 10:30 AM with rabies certificates from one of our rabies clinics. The vaccinations were given in October of 2011. One dog had received a one-year vaccination and the other received a three-year vaccination. I informed the owner that she could reclaim one dog after it got a booster, but she couldn't reclaim the other. She basically cried the whole time and left with her one dog.

Around 5:15 PM, she returned and handed my coworker a piece of paper. My coworker was leaving, so she handed her over to me. The piece of paper was a photocopy of the same rabies vaccination certificate that she had shown me 7 hours earlier, but the dates and tag number had been obviously altered. The weight of the ink and the handwriting was different than the rest of the certificate, and the white-out borders were visible.

"...Do you have the original certificate that you showed me this morning?"

"No."

"I'm sorry, but this one has been obviously altered. I cannot accept it."

"Ok."

Had I thought of it, I would have made a copy of the copy and kept it as proof. Altering a public health records is a serious issue. Had someone else seen it and reclaimed her dog to her, she could be responsible for releasing rabies into the general public.

By the way, the raccoon tested positive.

..............

Another case that's ongoing. There have been numerous parties involved in this case, and it's pretty annoying to be yelled at from so many different sides, when the most reasonable response to 80% of the people is, "It's really none of your damn business."

A dog was brought in as a stray bite dog. When informed that the dog could not be rehomed, the finder said that she was the owner, even though she had only had the dog for a couple days.

Now, we're getting messages from fosters saying that the dog has been "set up to fail", others asking "what we can do", the neighbor coming in and being super pushy, meanwhile everyone is scrambling to try and find a legal way to get the dog out the front door. Believe me, we don't just let things go. We may get yelled at by management for getting "too involved", but none of us want these animals to die and we work as hard as we can to find any other options.

There are no notes on the bite, but by all accounts the dog is very nice (and otherwise adoptable). But no one realizes what a legal mess that these types of cases cause. His hold was up Friday, but we're keeping him until this gets resolved, which might be tricky because we just learned the "owner" is in Arizona right now.

.....................

A family came in the other day to visit their dog that had "come into contact" with a groundhog. The groundhog had been sent out for testing but the brainstem had been compromised and the test was inconclusive. I informed them that bite dogs cannot be visited without an animal control officer escort, and they got upset and said that they had been told they could come visit. "Well, yes, if the officer goes with you." The woman then goes on about how they had been getting the run around from everyone and couldn't get a straight answer from anyone and blah blah blah.

Hey, lady, whose fault is it that your dog attacked a groundhog? Did WE put the little critter in your yard and then release your dog? No. We're just here, doing our job, trying to keep you and the community safe. So stop bitching and go home and knit a sweater. You can pick your dog up in 10 days.

Work stories

Back by popular demand. These are just from today, but there's always something nuts going on.

1.

Guy with a leaf blower outside, blowing leafs. Leaf blower goes silent, man angrily bursts through door.

"I just stepped in a huge pile of dog shit!"

Guy gets a plastic bag to wrap his boot. Decides to not use bag. Is given option to use hose out back.

Surly guy emerges from bathroom. When asked if he feels better, he grumbles, "Not really."

Find out later that guy left crap in the sink in the bathroom. A true gentleman. If only he'd had some clue that there may be poop outside, he may not have gotten so cranky.

2.

Young lady drags or is dragged in by big black dog. Dog happily greets me by grinning over the counter.

"I have to surrender my dog. He just killed another one of my cats and my landlord said I have to get rid of him."

I explain that we cannot rehome animals known to have killed other animals; though we have some cat-unfriendly dogs, none of them have, to our knowledge, killed any cats. I suggest rehoming independently, since we cannot.

"Well, I guess I don't have a choice."

Like we're forcing her to give us her dog. Right.

We go through the whole process, and the final question is:

"Do you want his body back for burial?"

"Wait, you mean you won't even give him a chance? He's going to be euthanized automatically?"

"We cannot rehome dogs who have killed other animals." For the fifth time.

*grooooan*

*glare* 

Thanks.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry that my supreme hatred for all living things caused you to allow your dog to not kill one, but multiple pet cats. I'm sorry that I have caused you to bring this dog in. Thank you so much for giving us your dog. We were all just sitting around, wishing there was some delightful, handsome, goofy dog that we could suck the life out of. Perfect.

You made my day.

3.

Guy calls, saying he wants to get his cat back. His ex-girlfriend surrendered their cats about seven weeks ago and didn't tell him until yesterday. He says one cat was adopted but he wants the other cat back. Since he didn't bring the cat in and everything was in his ex's name, I told him he could come in and adopt the cat.

Guy comes in, saying he wants his cat back, but he can't find her. Over the course of about half an hour, the building is scoured by numerous volunteers and staff. The cat is nowhere to be found. The guy starts freaking out, saying, "You put her down. You can tell me. You guys already put her down." I try to calm him down, saying that we're still looking for and that there would be a record if she had been euthanized.

"Well, obviously not."

He doesn't realize that his other cat wasn't adopted: she was euthanized because she was so traumatized that she couldn't adjust to being on the adoption floor. The whole time he's there he doesn't ask about her, he just tells me repeatedly that she had been adopted. I don't know who told him that, but okay.

Eventually we realize that one cat was euthanized and one was transferred to rescue, but in the paperwork, both were attached to one cat, the one that was put down. So, the other cat was showing as available and in the building, but had actually been transferred to a rescue.

I explain this to the guy (tactfully leaving out the whole "one of your cats really was euthanized" thing), and tell him two things we can do. I can ask the rescue coordinator to contact the rescue and see if they still have the cat. If they do, they can get back to him about reclaiming her. And/or, he can submit a public records request to find out where the cats went. He wants both cats back, even though I tell him that the cat is no longer legally his.

"But... they're my cats."

*facedesk*

He pushes the point that I could just tell him, acting all sneaky like, even though he has been ranting a raving and drawing the attention of everyone in the lobby. He then proceeds to have a full conversation with himself:

"Would you really lose your job for telling me where my own cat went? 'Oh, you helped a guy get his cat back. You're fired!' That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I mean, really?"

And on and on.

He answers a phone call and finally gets so loud that he attracts the security guard's attention. He then wanders outside. While he's outside, we find out that the cat that went to rescue had already been adopted. Woohoo!

He never comes back in, and I am given permission from my supervisor to not call him back. Small blessings.

.....

And these aren't even the stories involving concealed weapons, kitten enemas or feral spaceships!