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No ID yet on dog who bit boy, raising specter of rabies shots

By Howard B. Owens

The mother of a boy who was bit by a dog two days ago is getting nervous. Nobody has come forward yet as the owner of the dog, and no Good Samaritan has helped by identifying the dog and its owner.

That leaves a week left to try and find the dog and determine whether it carries rabies.

Without the confirmation, her boy will need to go through a painful round of rabies shots.

After further discussions with the boy, more details are available on the man and his dogs.

The man is described as about 6-feet tall, older and with a potbelly. 

The dog that bit the boy is likely a mix breed. After looking through photos with her son, the mother does not believe the dog was a pit bull. It's face was more droopy and had longer ears. The dog was brown and black and brindled (stripes). The owner was walking it with a harness (rather than a collar).

The man was also walking a slightly smaller yellowish dog.

The boy encountered the dogs on Vine Street near John Kennedy School.

It's likely the owner lives within a quarter mile of the school since that's the neighborhood he was walking in. The man has not been seen in the neighborhood since.

Anybody with information that may assist in locating the dog, please call Batavia PD at (585) 345-6350.

Doug Yeomans

The odds of that dog having rabies is slim to zero. I wouldn't put my child through those series of shots if it were me. How many times did I nick myself skinning raccoons, opossums and muskrats as a kid when I ran a trapline? Countless times, and here I am.

Has there been any confirmed rabies infections in Genesee county this summer, and if yes, what species was it and what was the location? I see a few fox around that look pretty skanky but I think that's just a mange infection. The fox aren't acting aggressive or unusual.

With a dog bite, I'd be more worried about a simple infection turning into something much worse like a MRSA infection than rabies.

Sep 13, 2012, 6:17am Permalink

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