BajaNomad

Dog Days of Doom

bajabound2005 - 5-18-2009 at 09:44 AM

Dog Days of Doom

By Bob McPhail | Published Monday, May 18, 2009 (San Diego Reader)

Tijuana’s municipal health department has begun a citywide operation to hunt down, capture, and kill dogs found running loose on the streets in an effort to stem an outbreak of illnesses caused by the tick-borne bacterium Rickettsia.

“If you have a dog, guard it carefully and make sure it doesn’t go into the street because after Monday, May 18, the Municipal Health Department will implement an intense operation to capture street dogs as part of the preventive measures being taken against Rickettsia in the city,” warned the Tijuana daily Frontera.

In Mexicali, where the outbreak began, 1600 dogs have already been captured and put to death, according to the Baja California secretary of health.

By late April, 9 of 14 people infected with a mysterious disease had died in three of Mexicali’s poorest neighborhoods. Health authorities now say they believe the illnesses may have been caused by Rickettsia, but only nine cases have been confirmed by blood tests.

On May 12, health officials announced the first confirmed case in Tijuana — a boy who lives in the Francisco Villa neighborhood. According to various news reports, the child was infected by a tick bite but is recovering from his illness.

Normally, owners have 72 hours to claim their pets in the city’s dog pound, but Tijuana health officials are recommending that dogs captured in the street be immediately euthanized. Officials have also ordered the fumigation of public schools. Health authorities recommend that anyone experiencing headache, high fever, and general malaise should go immediately to one of the six special centers set up across the city for evaluation.

rpleger - 5-18-2009 at 04:22 PM

Make sure your dog has a collar if it runs loose....Here in Mulegé thats the rule, any dog that doesn´t have a collar gets picked up and is done away with.

bacquito - 5-18-2009 at 07:01 PM

Loose dogs are a problem and it is too bad such action is necessary. Just recently a man was attacked by about eleven dogs in Winterhaven, Ca.
The attack caused the man to lose two legs and an arm. Eventually he died.
Dogs are wonderful companions but need to be cared for.

Barry A. - 5-18-2009 at 08:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bacquito
Loose dogs are a problem and it is too bad such action is necessary. Just recently a man was attacked by about eleven dogs in Winterhaven, Ca.
The attack caused the man to lose two legs and an arm. Eventually he died.
Dogs are wonderful companions but need to be cared for.


Dogs that are allowed to "pack up" often (always?) revert to their ancestral ways, and that includes acting like a carnivore.

No surprises here-----------and it probably is too late to save them. Often killing them is the only answer.

Just my opinion, (and experience) of course.

Barry

bajabound2005 - 5-18-2009 at 08:28 PM

And then we rec'd this piece of info from a local vet....

"We have just been in contact with a very reliable source in Mexicali who
informed us that the disease outbreak there is not due to Rickettsia or ticks.
There was a severe blackwater sewage leak in the areas where the illnesses began and it is other diseases such as hepatitis that are causing the deaths. Since this is a 'political' problem and elections are coming up it was 'decided' that the dogs would be a good place to lay the blame.

We are attempting to verify this info and will keep you posted as to what we
find out..
Elena"

On-Line petition now available

bajabound2005 - 5-19-2009 at 07:51 PM

From: People for Animals
Date: May 5, 2009
Subject: Online petition "Disapproval of the Massive Sacrifice of Dogs"
To: People of Animals<genteporlosanimales@gmail.com>


Greetings to Everyone:

Due to the recent announcement from the Health Department that orders the large scale capture and euthanasia of dogs roaming loose in public places, due to the case of Rickettsia that originated in Tijuana, we are uniting to demonstrate our disapproval of this action by any means possible.

Today a press release was sent that we hope will be published by the communications media.

In the city of Tijuana it appears that a circle of the media is forming in support of the animal protection associations in this city.

Finally, we have decided to create an on-line petition, that is to say, a relatively new way of collecting signatures by way of the internet. Some organizations call it "Activism on line" or "Virtual Activism" . What is certain is that it is an effective and practical way to demonstrate that there are many people who share our opinions and that is why we ask that you sign it and send it to your contacts so that, they in turn, can sign it as well by accessing the following link:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/gxlamay9/petition.html


It does not matter if you are from Baja California or not, if you are citizens or foreigners, the importance being to declare that we are not in agreement with what is happening. The more of us there are the more powerful our declaration.

As a precedent, we send the following related links:


Realizarán campañas de salud al poniente para prevenir rickettsia.
* Aprueba Iglesia matanza de perros.

* Pide ISESALUD no bajar la guardia en las medidas preventivas.

* Aumentan fumigaciones en ciudad tras brote de rickettsia.

* Enfermedades crónicas de la pobreza.




GENTE POR LOS ANIMALES A.C.
(686) 5 67-01-11 (9:00 a.m. a 1:00 p.m. de lunes a viernes)
genteporlosanimalesgsl@gmail.com - genteporlosanimales@gmail.com.
www.genteporlosanimales.org
HSBC Cuenta No. 4041177403
CLABE: 021020040411774038