DURBAN - The Kloof and Highway SPCA said two days after a Westville resident found a “normal- looking” stray dog lying at the front gate, it began exhibiting strange behaviour that is typically found in dogs with rabies.
Kloof SPCA manager Barbara Patrick said that on April 4 the inspectorate received a call to collect a stray dog from the Westville area.
“The owner of the home had noticed the dog lying by her gate, so she opened it and he entered the property and made himself comfortable in their garage,” she said.
Patrick said the resident made sure that the dog was isolated from her animals and she did not handle it.
“Field officer Philani Nzama immediately went and collected the scared dog and brought it into our Kloof and Highway SPCA,” she said.
Upon arrival, the stray dog was checked, scanned for a microchip and then inoculated as no inoculation history was known, she said.
Patrick said there was no lost report on record for the dog, and it was admitted to the stray kennels.
She said that two days later, on April 6, Inspector Tania Ungerer noticed that the dog was exhibiting some strange behaviour that it had not shown the previous day.
Patrick said the dog was skittish to the slightest noise, object, and even the leaves in his kennel, and began howling, which is often typical of a dog with rabies .
All this was confirmed by Petros Ntuli, an experienced animal handler, she said.
“The dog was displaying very strange neurological issues. The difficult, but responsible, decision was made to humanely euthanise the dog, and the body was immediately sent off to the state vet for rabies testing,” she said.
On Friday, Patrick said the results confirmed that the dog had tested positive for rabies.
“This dog that had appeared the day before to be completely normal, this dog that had eaten and was drinking water, was positive,” she said.
In a video showing the dog’s behaviour shared on Facebook by the SPCA, Patrick said it was frightening that to the average person this dog appeared normal .
“To our experienced staff who are vigilant, they prevented many tragic scenarios that could have unfolded. Rabies kills, and thankfully our staff are vaccinated,” she said.
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