Rabies enters the body through a bite or contact with saliva from an infected animal. A rabies vaccine. Picture: Reuters/Pichi Chuang
SPCA Pietermaritzburg is urgently seeking the owner/owners, who dropped off a tan puppy with them on Sunday afternoon (July 14). The dog tested positive for rabies.
It is feared that if the virus entered the dog owner's body through a bite or they had contact with the dog's saliva, the person's life would be in danger.
Sheldon Shea, the SPCA's operations supervisor, said they received a call on their emergency line from a person in the area that a dog was placed into their holding kennels at their front gate and was crying loudly.
“These are containment cages that people put stray animals that they have picked up into. There is a sign right above the holding kennels, telling people who drop off sick animals to contact us immediately. This was not done (by the owner). Our inspector, on responding to the call, removed the animal from the holding kennels and placed it into a secure cage in our pound," said Shea.
“Our vet then tested the animal for rabies, which is a Zoonotic disease (transferable to humans). The dog was then sent to the state veterinary laboratory for testing and the test results confirmed the dog had rabies.
"We placed a notification on our Facebook page pending confirmation of the test results. With the results confirmed, we now need the persons who dropped the animal to come forward urgently as this is fatal,” said Shea.
The state vet subsequently issued a notice: “They (the dog owner/s) require immediate treatment. The virus enters the body through a bite or contact with saliva from an infected animal. The puppy was extremely aggressive and probably bit people prior to surrender. Once the virus seats itself in a nerve, death is imminent. Successful treatment depends on time and they have hours before it is too late."
Shea added that people dropping off animals in the holding cages needed to contact the Pietermaritzburg SPCA as soon as they did this.
“Our after-hours number gives the caller our emergency number. The Pietermaritzburg SPCA is working with security companies and security footage to find any information that will help with finding, notifying, and getting treatment, if necessary, to the people who dropped the animal off. We will keep the public updated but at this point, the most pressing issue is finding these people."
Anyone with information on the family should contact the PMB SPCA on 033 386 9267 or 083 627 9736.