One puppy killed, injured puppies to be euthanized
Crandall (GA) – Murray County Environmental Health officials received word from a family on Friday, July 19th that a skunk came into a dog pen at their home off Rob Brooks Road in Crandall, Georgia and attacked several puppies.
One puppy was killed during the attack, and others were injured. None had yet been vaccinated for rabies, so the injured puppies were quarantined at Murray County Veterinary Services in Chatsworth until it could be determined if the skunk was positive for rabies.
Since then, test results from the Georgia Public Health Laboratory confirmed that the skunk was rabies infected; therefore, the puppies were to be euthanized. The mother dog was currently vaccinated against rabies so only needed a rabies booster shot and is under a 45-day quarantine at home.
Jason Baum, manager of Murray County Environmental Health, said he is passing out incident notification fliers in the immediate neighborhood and is encouraging all residents to maintain rabies vaccinations in their pets. He also said to avoid unfamiliar animals and immediately report bites or scratches from any animal that could potentially be unvaccinated against rabies to a healthcare provider and the local environmental health office. The Murray County Environmental Health Office phone number is (706) 695-0266, ext. 371. If calling after hours, please call the Georgia Poison Control Center, toll-free, at 1-800-222-1222.
For more information about rabies and its prevention, please log onto the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/.