Rabid raccoon sends Saugus dog into quarantine

SAUGUS-A rabid raccoon has sent a family pet into quarantine and the family to the doctor’s office.K9 Control Officer Harold Young said he received a call around 3:45 p.m. Oct. 3 for a raccoon loose on Felton Court. When he arrived, the children, who had been playing outside, had fled inside and the raccoon had scurried up a tree.”There was a dog in one backyard in a kennel and the raccoon had climbed up a tree over the kennel,” he said.Young said the coon had not bitten the dog, but it was low enough in the tree that it and the dog were swatting at each other. Young said that alone was enough to cause concern because an animal does not need to be bitten to contract rabies – the virus could be spread by saliva alone.Using a long pole with a loop of cable at the end, Young was able to catch the raccoon after it made several attempts at escape.”I managed to catch him again, but he probably weighed 15 or 20 pounds and put up a good struggle,” he said.Once the raccoon was safely tucked away, Young said he returned to the family, who sadly admitted their mixed husky/shepherd’s vaccinations had lapsed.Young said the dog, named Yukon, had been vaccinated 10 days past his due date on Sept. 26 and new vaccine had not been in his system long enough to be sure it would be effective.”It takes 30-days for the drug to set in,” he said.The family then had to decide whether to place Yukon into isolation for 90 days or put him down.”They had to have a difficult discussion,” Young said.With isolation costing approximately $3,000, Young said the town’s Health Agent agreed that the dog could stay in a kennel rather than total isolation, which Young could provide at K9-Control.”We charge $10 a day and a $20 administration fee,” he said. “It will only cost them $900, which was a big relief to the family and it will save the family pet.”Young said the family could visit Yukon while he’s in isolation but they can’t touch him.This is not the family’s first encounter with a rabies scare.Young said several years ago, an incident with a bat sent the entire family to the doctors for rabies shots. Because they don’t know exactly when Yukon might have come in contact with the raccoon, or if a family member might have touched the dog after it had, the family will once again head to the doctors for booster shots.