The scenario in America is not uncommon. A healthy domestic cat enters a shelter. For some reason, and we never know the circumstances, the cat bites or scratches a shelter worker. The cat carries no identification. There is no history. The cat is unknown to the shelter for whatever reason. There is no doubt that the cat is a domestic cat because his behavior indicates socialization and friendliness around people. And there is no doubt that the cat looks healthy.
What to do? Does the shelter euthanize the cat immediately in order to test the cat for rabies? A rabies test is carried out on a cat’s brain and therefore the cat has to be killed before the test can take place. Or does the shelter hold the cat for 5 to 10 days in confinement for observation?
Under the circumstances, it would appear that the policy is to notify the local health department immediately and provide the name and address of the person bitten. The potential for rabies exposure and case management is then overseen and directed by the local health department. The department has a discretion to deal with the matter but, as I understand it, the normal procedure is to confine the cat for 10 days and observe for signs of rabies. If the animal becomes ill during the ten-day confinement, at the discretion of the local health department, they may euthanize the animal and test for rabies. This procedure is also stated by CDC.
In Minnesota it would seem that a private organization running a rescue operation can do as they see fit to protect their staff and volunteers. This would give the green light to euthanize the cat without holding him for a 10 day observation.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Federated Humane Societies said that that is incorrect and just like Animal Control a rescue organization has to hold the animal for 5 to 10 days. If the animal is physically suffering and beyond cure as assessed by a licensed veterinarian then it can be euthanized.
Also in Minnesota, impounded animals that have bitten humans may be euthanized and tested for rabies before the five day period has elapsed if demanded by the Department of Health. This is obviously a discretionary decision. What I mean is the cat may or may not be euthanized. If the cat looks healthy and domesticated it would be unreasonable to the euthanize her without a standard 10 day observation.
The point that I’m getting at is there are two courses of action when a cat bites shelter worker as an animal shelter, (1) the cat is euthanized and tested for rabies in order to protect the workers or (2) the cat is confined for 10 days for observation for rabies. In addition the local health department is notified.
It is difficult to find a very clearly defined answer using the Internet as a research tool. Obviously, in the USA what happens depends upon the laws of the state concerned. As far as I can tell there is no federal law on the subject. There appears to be a grey area were discretion can be used by the local health department. I do not think that a shelter has the discretion but there are stories of shelter management making decisions unilaterally to euthanize cats under these circumstances without criticism from the local authority. Is there a lack of clarity among shelter managers?
The decision to euthanize can be a tragedy if the cat was a beloved companion and for some unfortunate reason he found his way to a shelter where he was frightened and/or mishandled and bit or scratched in defensive mode which in effect ended his life.
The decision-making processes is complicated by the large number of cats passing through shelters, the pressure on shelter management, the fear of rabies which is fatal to humans and what appears to be a grey area in the rules which allows discretion to euthanize by shelter management when a cat bites.
I welcome the input of others but….
**NO COMMENTS BY TROLLS**
P.S. This page may be updated and amended as necessary when further information comes to light.
Sources as stated and Virginia Recommended Pet Shelter Bite Protocol.
I take your point but I do not think that it is true that people walk up to stray cats to try and pet them unless they are clearly domesticated. Anyway most domestic cats and certainly feral cats do not allow people to walk up to them when they are outside. All genuine feral cats will back off and avoid people. Which is one reason why they are less likely to transmit diseases to people.
You say that the gap is closing with respect to the spread of rabies by stray cats. Once again you cannot make those sorts of remarks without supporting them with hard scientific evidence. And I don’t want a whole list of horrible links which do not actually support your argument. Provide one link and it must link to a proper scientific paper which directly supports your argument.
You go on to say that in the UK we are killing all our wildlife to save the lives of cats. That of course is complete bullshit and you know it. Really you can come out with the most unholy rubbish.
You then say that humans are facing Armageddon because we are killing wildlife to save cats. Another example of pure BS.
I’m not downplaying the issue about rabies. I know it is very serious. I am simply discussing in the article how shelters should relate to it. That is a valid discussion. Please do not distort what I’m saying.
I’m not saying that rabid cats should not be killed. Where did you get that idea from?
I think this conversation must be terminated because of your unreasonableness and your inability to remain polite. You have to be polite to me because you are on my website; that is something you consistently fail to remember.
People and their children don’t generally run up to a cute and cuddly bat or cute and cuddly badger to pet it, try to pick it up, and bring it home. The threat to humans is greater from cats just due to their misinformed perception that stray cats are a safe and disease-free animal to be around.
Yes, wild animals spread rabies more than cats, but that gap is closing rapidly due to all the rabid stray cats today. Should we kill all our wildlife to save the lives of cats? Just like you are doing in the UK. Where the only “wildlife” left on earth is just house-cats? That is a death-sentence for the human race and everything else on earth, all plant species included because plants depend on native wildlife for their reproduction and propagation. We depend on those wild animals to keep the food-chain alive. Without them, you nor your cats would even be here.
Pick another thoughtless deflection, that one isn’t going to work.
13,000 cats tested for rabies causing 13,000 rabies vaccinations in humans PER YEAR is not a rare incident. It is precisely because of people like you downplaying the issue as to why it’s now only a short matter of time until the UK is devastated by a rabies epidemic of great proportions. You are especially ripe for this outbreak due to your fondness for cats and people declaring that even rabid cats shouldn’t be killed (just as you have done over and over again).
Those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.
Enjoy your rabies, it’s getting closer and closer to your very door. Try to hug and cuddle it when it meows wanting to be let in. It’s so CUTE! Isn’t it.
“A cat bite, now being the #1 cause of rabies transmission to humans out of all domesticated animal species in the USA”
But I think you need to compare the transmission of rabies by domestic cats to the transmission of rabies by wild species of animal which as you know is far higher. In fact domestic cats are infected by rabies from wild animals. If you want to blame an animal blame the wild animals such as bats and foxes which infect domestic cats outside. Relatively speaking, and you know this, there are very few incidents of domestic cats transmitting rabies to people. It is a rare incident but I agree one needs to take precautions that all times.
Those people don’t die of rabies because over 13,000 people per year (for EACH of the last 28 YEARS) are forced to get post-exposure rabies shots after being scratched or bitten by a stray cat with unknown rabies vaccination histories, to save each human’s life from cat-transmitted rabies. Documentation of this is readily available on CDC’s website if you want proof.
Rabies vaccination programs for stray and feral cats are not usually being formally and legally documented or they fail to give the stray cat a required booster shot. This is why just a few months ago a TNR cat that was vaccinated against rabies, even had its ear clipped, yet attacked someone and that cat was later found to be infected with rabies, as well as being in the infectious stage of rabies. Giving a 1-shot vaccination to a cat that already has rabies does nothing to cure a cat of rabies that it already has nor prevent it from transmitting rabies to others. They’d have to give a cat the same $5,000+ post-exposure rabies vaccination regimen that they use on humans to try to cure it of, and save it dying from, being infected with live rabies. In late stage rabies even that is usually ineffective.
It doesn’t matter if the cat bites someone in a shelter or out on the streets. A cat bite, now being the #1 cause of rabies transmission to humans out of all domesticated animal species in the USA (over 3 times higher than rabies in dogs today), that is cause and reason enough to take life-saving precautions in each and every case when a cat bite or scratch is involved. And to also follow the euthanize or quarantine for 6-months laws.
You paint a very bleak picture. When a cat bites a shelter worker they have to initiate a formal process but every year in America I am sure that around a million people are bitten by their cat or someone else’s. Nothing is said and nothing is done and no one died of rabies.Perhaps you might know whether it is obligatory for shelter workers to be vaccinated against rabies. If not why why is it not obligatory? Also, how effective have the vaccination programs beem for cats and other domestic animals in America? It is a shame that domestic cats in shelters are seen as potentially rabid if they bite somebody. I understand the need to be hyper-cautious but the chance of a cay biting somebody in a shelter is much higher than normal because of handling issues and cats becoming fearful of strange surroundings.