Rescued Dogs From Iraq Prompt Rabies Warning

At least one dog flown into Newark Airport from Iraq as part of a stray dog rescue mission was found to have rabies and may have affected other animals, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced yesterday. 24 Dogs and 2 cats were on the flight, organized by Operation Baghdad Pups, a SPCA group that has brought hundreds of stray dogs over from Iraq to new homes in America.

The infected dog, Crusader (pictured), was an 11-month-old black Labrador mix that had been taken in by American soldiers in Baghdad as a puppy. (Here's his story.) After arriving June 5th, Crusader fell ill with fever, diarrhea, wobbly gait, agitation and crying, the Times reports. He was euthanized, but the other pets had been shipped out to homes across the country before lab tests showed that he was rabid. The disease, which has been mostly eradicated in U.S pets., is easily transmitted by saliva and kills 55,000 people a year worldwide.

Now the C.D.C. has had to track down the pets and quarantine them for six months. So far none have become sick, but as a precaution, thirteen people have been advised to get preventive treatment for rabies. A C.D.C. vet tells the Times that all pets imported to the U.S. are supposed to be vaccinated for rabies 30 days before they arrive, but the animals in this shipment got shots only days before leaving Baghdad.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on October 3, 2008 11:22 AM

Comments [rss]

lynbir1

They are not rounding up strays to bring here. These are dogs that have been adopted by and spent time with our soldiers over there. You can't expect them to just abandon them. They already have permanent homes here before they leave.

Dutchess550

Our government doesn't pay to ship the dogs back. D'uh. It's all private donations and donated frequent flyer miles. Get a grip. Find out the real back story and THEN gripe, if you want to.

JacqueMehoff

you can't bring fruit in without it being checked,

good cause but c'mon, we got enough worries stateside.

are they bring cats in, too?

wiyum

we euthanize kill dogs (and cats) in local shelters daily. we don't really have any business rescuing dogs abroad when we are not rescuing those that are already here.

lovebuzz

Naw I wouldn't shoot them.

But I wonder what Iraqis think about us treating their stray dogs better than we treat them. We bring home strays and leave informants to die.

what a joke.

zodak

i knew eventually we would find WMDs over there.

fredrick

"Huh? Let me get this straight. We are paying to have stray dogs AIRLIFTED out of Iraq and brought to the US?!!! Who the hell is rounding up these strays? Soldiers?!!! I hope not. This is ridiculous."

Actually, the SPCA is paying for it.

resa

Ugh. Several weeks of hellish and expensive treatment for people who were nice enough to rescue animals. That sucks.

The Edge

#5- So what would you do if you were over there?

Shoot them?

lovebuzz

Huh? Let me get this straight. We are paying to have stray dogs AIRLIFTED out of Iraq and brought to the US?!!! Who the hell is rounding up these strays? Soldiers?!!! I hope not. This is ridiculous.

Love dogs but this is a waste of time and $$$.

Christ on a crutch for crying out loud!!!!!!!!!!!

ides_of_march

"Now the C.D.C. has had to track down the pets and quarantine them for six months."

And whose idea was it to bring the dogs in without being quarantined in the first place?

Spirit of 76

I don't get it. Rabies has a nearly 100% mortality rate in dogs and an incubation period of up to 3 months. What would vaccinating one month before transport accomplish?