Animal Trails

by Michelle Ryan

Bertha’s dog bite tale sends message

A lady friend of mine named Bertha was recently describing her weekend. She was at a family gathering, and got quite a scare when a family member’s Labrador Retriever jumped onto her lap. Bertha was startled. She was reassured by a relative that ‘the dog just likes to be hugged’. Bertha responded with, “Well, he picked the wrong person”. I thought it was funny and chuckled, and asked if she liked animals. Bertha admitted she was not fond of four-legged creatures. It wasn’t so funny when she explained what happened to her as a child.

During the 1940’s, Bertha lived on a farm in Beecher Illinois. She was about 10 years old. Scarlet fever was going around, and Bertha was told to go next door to relay a message to her neighbors ‘that the fever broke‘. As she was knocking at the door, the German Shepherd who lived on the farm, was on the porch. Bertha knew the dog, but the dog lunged at her, biting her leg. Bertha was bleeding and crying. The doctor had to come out for double duty to suture Bertha’s leg, and monitor the scarlet fever situation.

The next day, the German Shepherd’s owner came over to Bertha’s house to relay a message of his own. The dog had died suddenly. The dog displayed no unusual symptoms, but was being tested for rabies. The dog tested positive for rabies. Bertha recalled undergoing a series of injections in her abdomen. She said it was painful, but she came out of it okay, physically speaking. The emotional scar that was left is a different story.

It is not a surprise how someone who is now in her 80’s, feels trepidation toward animals, after something that happened in childhood. Although nowadays, rabies is not the threat that it once was, a dog attack can still have an everlasting effect.

I was recently reminded of this situation while delivering flyers for the recent political campaign. There was one house on my route that never got the candidate’s flyers. There was a big dog in the backyard that was clearly letting me know that he lived there. I was tempted to go up to the front door like it was routine, but stopped myself. I reminded myself of what parents and teachers need to remind kids when going up to houses for school fundraisers, trick-or-treating, or whatever. Avoid the house with the dog clearly sending a message!

May 17th through May 23rd is National Dog Bite Prevention Week. Prevention is always the best route, but must be taught. There are basic things like avoiding eye contact, no running or screaming, no taunting or provoking dogs. However, there will always be dog attacks. Children especially, should be exposed to some kind of post traumatic therapy following an attack. Being around dogs will help heal an emotional wound. Whether nowadays, or in the old days, dogs are wonderful companions that will always stand the test of time.