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Show Cages of Cats That Have Bitten Someone Held Under Observation by the New York Board of Health PRETTY little thirteen year-old Grace Polhemus died In Brook lyn the other day in the agonies of hydrophobia rom the bite of a mad cat A few days later a mad dog bit eeven people near the Barclay street ferry rh lower New York it the present moment there are more than sixty victims of mad dogs under treatment by the New Yoik Board of Health. In spite of the selfish opposition of the owners of dogs the Board of Health Is determined de-termined to try to stamp out hydro phobia It is commonly supposed that the danger from hydiophobla comes from the roving ownerless stray dogs of the city This is not the real truth Most of the victims of hydrophobia are bitten by house dogs or cats that are household pets Of fifty five hydrophobia patients under treatment In the city hospitals recently forty three of them vere bitten by house dogs or cats, only twelve by stray animals In one case a mad house dog bit eight per sons in one household. In another a mad house cat bit seven persons on one? block. In no case did a stray dog bite more than two persons If every dog owner w ould keep his dog muzzled and the Health Depart ment weie succe sful In capturing every stray dog hydrophobia could be wiped out absolutely In a com paratlvely short t me as It was In England as a result of regulations similar to those recently put into 'force by the ew York Health, De partment This is so because of the peculiar nature of the disease It can be com municated only by actual Injection of the micro-organism responsible for it Such Injection takes place when a rabid dog breaks the skin of its victim vic-tim with its teeth because the dog s saliva carries the micro-organism of rabies If then every dog Jn New York now aifilcted with hydrophobia weie put under contiol so as to pievent their wound ng healthy dogs the af flicted dogs would lapidly die fiom the effects of the disease and hydro phobia would be only a memory To accomplish this result however it s necessary to put all dogs under contiol temporarily because ttiere is mo way of telling whether 01 not a particular dog has been exposed to the disease In other words it takes t me foi the disease to develop after an animal has been scratched or bitten by a labid animal The period which elapses between the bite and the deve opment of the disease is called the incubation period Dur tag that period the animal in ques tlon shows no signs of its condition It may take a month, or three months or een a year before the disease develops There was a caso of a chi d bitten by a mad dog wheie the disease did not develop for fifteen months during the whole of which period the; child was under observa tlon thus removing the possibility of a second Infection In the caBe of the- Brooklj n girl who d ed a week or two ago hydrophobia did not de velop until thirteen months after the Ichild was bitten. To stamp out hydrophobia once and for all then it is necessary to cap ture every stray dog and cat and imuzzle every owned dog In that way every animal actually afflictel with the disease would rapidly sue cumb to ft and every animal which had been mere y exposed to it would m the course of time develop it and similarly succumb to it without anv of them having in, opportunity to transmit it to other animals As was pointed o t in this news paper recently by Dr S S Go d water Commiss oner of Hea th and pre Ident of the Board of Health thf-re has not been a single case of hyd ophobia in dogs or human beings in Eng and 6ince 1902 because of the rigid enforcement of the muzzling law in that country T en aga n the p is a more or less gene i be let that the mena e of h d hob a h s been o gperatc Ther s an 1 lea t h a e treatment nfa b e That a great m stake The etfectivene s f the Pasteu treatment was thus ex slalned by Dr Frank S Fielder as sistant director of the Resea'ch Laboratories of the New York Health Department The Pasteur treatment consists of a series of more or less painful In sections lasting about three weeks Where the treatment is completed without the disease developing It is successful in about 99 per cent of the cases but where the disease develops de-velops before the treatment is com p eted the treatment is never sue cessful In other words once the dis ease develops there is no way now known to science by which it cam be cured In 1913 for instance we admin istered the treatment in 373 cases in which the animal inflicting the wound was known to have been suffering from rabies In two of those cases the disease developed befoie or short ly after the treatment was completed and in a third case the case of the Brooklyn girl who died a week or two ago it didnt develop until a vear after the treatment was completed. In all three cases the patient fcuo- cumbed In the remaining 370 cases the patients survived In a large number of cases how ever the Pasteur treatment is not administered at all or if started is not completed. Th s often occurs where the victim is bitten by bis own dog In such cases the dog owner is unwilling to believe that his pet is rabid and refuses to take the Pasteur treatment as a piecautlpnary measure In other cases after yielding to the advice of the family phjsicianand taking one or two Pasteur injections the patient becomes indifferent to his danger and decides to take a chance The toll of death is very large where the Pasteur treatment i not taken although of course some individuals possess such excellent re sisting power that the disease never develops despite the fact that no pie cautions are taken against it This Is illustrated In the case of the Brooklyn child who succumbed a week or two ago The1 cat which bit her also bit two others a boy and a man Neither underwent the Pas teur treatment and neither developed the disease The girl took the treat ment at the earliest possible moment and still developed the disease It is apparent therefore that iog owneis aie not Justified in ignoring the regulations laid down by the Health Department simply because the Paste,ur treatment may be relied upon to arrest the development of the disease in a great number of cases Despite all that medicaf science can da hydrophobia will stl 1 exact a heavy toll among t ose who contract it The only effective way to protect the community against the dread disease is to prevent its trans mission and that can be done only by seizing all stray dogs and muzzling those which aie owned The muzzling law is not only a pro tectlon to the community at large and to the dog owner in particular It is also a protect on to dogs Any t e dog lover ought to realize the fact that It is only by muzzling all dogs that his own dog may be safe guarded In Eng and vbere the en forcement of dog muzzling laws and othe i lotective measures has abso lute y stamped out rabies dogs are safe from the d sease In this coun try es ecial y in ew Yo k City and its environs where dog owners na e long esented any attempt upon the part ot the authorities to regula e thr ownership of dogs and othe an mi no dog or cat is safe Although dog-owners as a rule show so little regard for the safetj of the community the a itho tie;, poin u hat those most 11 ft n h ind fference are g wne emse ve This o a st n e w espre a a s d n hyd op ob a rable s u f wh h dog owne a e son em b t ten by their rabid pets before they realize the real nature of the animal s complaint There is a common idea declared Dr Fielder that a mad dog shows an intense fear of water As long theiefore as a pet dog shows no aversion to his diink his owner is ery apt to regard any Indisposition he may exhibit as of minor conse quence As a matter of fact, how ever mad dogs are able to eat and drink and show no fear of food or water until paralysis of the throat actually sets in which may not occur until late in the course ot the dis ease Equally general is the erroneous idea that a mad dog Is necessari y violent The fact is that there are two forms of the disease the quiet or dumb form and the active or ilolent form In the first the dog is quiet and drowsy and shows little or no tendencv to bite or run awav The lower jaw is slt0htly dropped Unpleasant Facts Showing That It Is the Fet Dog and S'ft w li?pP Unpieasanl Cages of Cats That Have Bitten Someone Held Under Observation by u VvSp the New York Board of Health v, Va ,$&0$i PRETTY little thirteen year-old slstant director of the Research i .yT Grace Polhemus died in Brook Laboratories of the New York Health and. In this form of tie disease al though the animal laps liquids he is unable to swallow them "Weakness of the hind legs sets in and the animal dies within a few days In the second form the, animal is rest less sometimes irritable and some times unus ally affectionate at the onset Frequently the dog -runs away from home It should be remembered that se cretlons from the mouth of a rabid dog are poisonous whether he shows any tendency to bite or not and if ' thev come in contact with a sore or ,an open wound on the person of a itealthy animal or human being they tiansmit the disease The only safe ru e to follow in handling a sick dog is to wear heavy glomes and to avoid secretions from the mouth Until it is absolutely certain that your sick dog has not got hydrophobia the only safe thin0 to do is to assume that he has and the Household Cat and Not the Ownerless Stray Mongrels That Are the Chief Cause of i Hydrophobia act accordingly Keep the dog under ooservation and out of the way of human beings and other animals for a week If he has the disease he will succumb to It in that time Dog owners who are careless of their pwn safety have no right to jeopardize the safety of others and j a rigorous enforcement ot the dog muzzling ordinance is the only thins that will adequately protect the com munlty In view of these facts the Board of -Health takes the very reasonable grounds that every citizen should make it nis duty to act as an in former if his dog keep ng neighbor fails to comply with the Health Depaitment De-paitment regulations No dhild or adult in the city is safe from hydro phobia theoost horrible of all dis eases while obstinate dog owners are permitted to defy the Hea th De partment in Its valuable crusade It is to the Interest as well as the duty of eveiy indii dual citizen to co operate in every ay possible with the Health Department in this splen did work ig. wwi u wjjia, of eveiy indii dual citizen to co nlamxlMh. operate in every ay possible with ggy Health Department in this splen cumbed In the remaining 370 cases I S'" ti 9 YCP the patients survived f fit I (flow In a large number of cases how M J at ,JrT7 S5!wARf ever the Pasteur treatment is not ij jgW Sf4 ' oCTl07 M administered at all or if started is M MSrtMfW HI $ llSI throat not completed. Ths often occurs JLw. Jllf JNI&llslll i WbWJh x SvL-St' III where the victim is bitten by bis own ilo KIFW IfiS fCI I I ' I lt dog In such cases the dog owner is , ffeft. KWk3 $. I ( Jr-' unwilling to believe that his pet is sE K Sfgi - 2?iSI P CONVULSIONS rabid and refuses to take the Pasteur A. V VSlS f7t$mi?' t?ifm J" ' ' I 0F., treatment as a pi ecautionary measure 52 SMiJ Mlj&ip fifj- 4TsO- MUSCLES In other cases after yielding to the PCi" WSWS PIISI F- ( advice of the family phjsicianand fi- & XsSSIir r Sri LOCATIOri taking one or two Pasteur injections sWSs't?lf' ffi$r 4 P OF the patient becomes indifferent to his SSOJU i!pl MY Wtk INFECTION danger and decides to take a f l'W-SS1L , JF 1 chance The toll of death is very A iwW'IFTOKWSl M large where the Pasteur treatment n I IT tf&JS&mW&M mWWv?wM$ M 1 I G not taken although of course some s M Vf'! I AL) individuals possess such excellent re gf Si4fW1l&Sssf J'us'i fS I JERKY sisting power that the disease never $OPfS5fes YALX develops despite the fact that no pie PSl'lMSV'W SsH&I cautions are taken against it JSJikSW st A H This is illustrated in the case of v the Brooklyn child who succumbed a wSZ'S'fvm" i?? V week or two ago The" cat which bit WfWIwjffikf8rt her also bit two others a boy and WkS&W'mT-&.!' S. ! sf' a man Neither underwent the Pas imifiSm , J I , 1 Inoculation of Hydrophobia Patients at the New York Pasteur Institute How Hydrophobia Showa Its Effect in Vanous Parts of the Body g , ' ) Little Thirteen-Year Old Grace Polhemus Who Died m tha Frightful Agony of Hydrophobia from a Cat B te I |