Pembroke & Cardigan Welsh Corgi - View Single Post

MyPemCharlie · 03-05-2008, 05:41 PM

You are both right. Dogs are the largest carrier of rabies...in the world. In the United States, we have very few cases of domestic animal (dogs and cats) rabies. The US rabies has moved to the wild population: skunks, raccoons, and bats (among others).

Austin boasts the largest colony of bats in North America during the Spring and Summer. Thousands of pregnant bats migrate to Austin from Mexico in March/April and by the mid-summer peak there are as many as 1.5 million bats. Tourists congregate at the Congress Bridge (where the bats sleep all day) at sunset. When the sun sets, hundreds of thousands of bats take flight to go munch on insects all night. It's really quite an amazing sight!

Anyway, we had hundreds of documented cases of rabid bats here in 2007, while not one single domestic dog or cat tested positive for rabies during the same year. The health department also thinks that only 50% of dog owners comply with the rabies vaccination law here. Is it possible that generations of immuzing for rabies has caused our dogs to be born with an immunity? Or are the rabid bats just finding other "meals"?

Things that make you go "Hmmmmm"....

03-05-2008, 05:41 PM	#22 (permalink)
MyPemCharlie Global Moderator Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 1,308	You are both right. Dogs are the largest carrier of rabies...in the world. In the United States, we have very few cases of domestic animal (dogs and cats) rabies. The US rabies has moved to the wild population: skunks, raccoons, and bats (among others). Austin boasts the largest colony of bats in North America during the Spring and Summer. Thousands of pregnant bats migrate to Austin from Mexico in March/April and by the mid-summer peak there are as many as 1.5 million bats. Tourists congregate at the Congress Bridge (where the bats sleep all day) at sunset. When the sun sets, hundreds of thousands of bats take flight to go munch on insects all night. It's really quite an amazing sight! Anyway, we had hundreds of documented cases of rabid bats here in 2007, while not one single domestic dog or cat tested positive for rabies during the same year. The health department also thinks that only 50% of dog owners comply with the rabies vaccination law here. Is it possible that generations of immuzing for rabies has caused our dogs to be born with an immunity? Or are the rabid bats just finding other "meals"? Things that make you go "Hmmmmm".... __________________ Chris & Charlie He Ain't Heavy, He's My Corgi!