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Message From Barbar Ellis-Quinn
I have taken on the responsibility of organizing the sale of raffle tickets at the Portal Post Office prior to this year’s Soup’s On week. I will need 15 volunteers to sit at the post office and sell tickets on every day (Monday through Friday) between Jan. 28th and Feb. 15th. The hours would be from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. I will provide you will everything you need (tickets, raffle prize information, table, chairs, etc.)
I would appreciate hearing from anyone who would be willing to volunteer for this good cause. Remember that the money raised by the raffle and the sale of food at Soup’s On goes to the benefit of Portal Rescue.
I look forward to working with all of you.
Barbara Ellis-Quinn Dr_E_Q@me.com
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If You Encounter A Rabid Animal
Submitted by Dinah Davidson
If/when you encounter a suspicious carcass, or a live animal behaving aggressively or unnaturally, you should contact the Sheriff’s office (800-362-0812). Given an uptick in rabies county-wide, all carcasses of common target animals (skunks, foxes, coyotes, bobcat, coatis) are now tested for rabies. Unnatural behaviors include, e.g., a nocturnal animal out in daytime and displaying aggression or even just lack of fear.
Ask the dispatch officer for a call-back from Al - the USDA guy who handles these matters for all of Cochise County. Most of the following advice comes from him.
If it is not necessary to handle a carcass, then don’t do it. But if you handle a suspicious carcass, make certain to wear protective gloves and steer clear of the mouth, which may contaminate you with virus-infected saliva.
Any human exposed to rabies through a scratch or bite must be treated for rabies. Any exposed pet must be quarantined, sometimes for as long as 4 months, and perhaps even if the pet has been vaccinated. An animal control person will conduct a visit to assess the situation.
(Information I found online: Thorough and immediate cleaning and treatment of a bite or wound area can significantly reduce the chance of infection, but such cleaning cannot replace treatment for rabies. First flush the area with water for at least one full minute. Follow up by washing with soap or detergent to remove saliva containing the virus. Then apply a disinfectant such as alcohol, bleach, or tincture of iodine directly to the wound and under skin flaps to stop the virus from being absorbed into body tissue. Finally, go immediately to your doctor or an emergency room.)
Al cautions that your best protection from rabies is to have your pets up-to-date on vaccinations, so that they don’t bring the disease back to you.
He also urges that no one feed animals like skunks, foxes, coyotes, or bobcat, because even healthy animals will behave aggressively if expecting food, and someone unfamiliar with the fed animal will not recognize this behavior as something other than disease. As Al says, “a fed fox is a dead fox”; he will be forced to euthanize any animal reported as behaving aggressively. It is actually illegal in Cochise County to feed any animal the size of a coyote or larger.
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