Join Me on Facebook

Good morning all.

If you follow this blog, you might also want to become a Facebook friend. I find myself commenting on Facebook quite often these days. It's fun and a great way to stay in touch with folks.

Become my Facebook friend. www.facebook.com.

Rabies Is a Problem in Orange County

Rabies continues to be a big problem in Orange County. For some reason it doesn't get talked about much or mentioned much in the local papers, but Orange County has more than our fair share of rabid raccoons, foxes, etc.

Please keep your pet's rabies vaccination up-to-date. If you don't, and your dog is attacked by a rabid animal, you will be forced to either euthanize Spot or quarantine him for 6 months. I know of one local family that is bearing the expense of a 6 month quarantine, and that's not something any of us can really afford. Six months at a kennel costs thousands upon thousands of dollars.

Here's a press release sent out by Orange County staff today:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Release Date: July 1, 2009
Contact: Robert Marotto, Orange County Animal Services Director (919)
968-2287

Positive Rabies Test for a Raccoon

CHAPEL HILL - On Tuesday, June 30th, Orange County Animal Services received a positive rabies result for a raccoon from the North Carolina Rabies Laboratory.
This is the ninth confirmed rabies case in Orange County for 2009.

On the evening of Sunday, July 28th, a resident in the vicinity of NC Highway 86 North and Sawmill Road came home and saw his dog fighting with a raccoon. He shot the raccoon and then called 911. Animal Control responded to his call and removed the raccoon for testing because of the known exposure it had with the dog.

Fortunately, the resident’s dog was currently vaccinated against rabies. According to the law, if there is "a reasonable suspicion of exposure," a cat or dog with a current vaccination must receive a booster shot within seventy-two hours of that exposure. In this case, the dog received a booster rabies vaccination the day after its contact with the raccoon. An unvaccinated cat or dog, by contrast, would have needed to be
humanely euthanized or quarantined for a period of six (6) months at a veterinary clinic.

As a result of the positive test result, the case has been referred to a Communicable Disease (CD) Nurse from Orange County's Health Department to evaluate the risk of rabies exposure so that the resident can decide whether to obtain medical treatment. Any concern in this case is with secondary exposure and the resident reduced the risk of such exposure by wearing gloves to bag up the raccoon for Animal Control. As is always the case, however, a decision about the post-exposure prophylaxis that protects people from rabies is made by the person involved, based upon an assessment of all the involved factors.

As with any positive rabies test result, this case underscores the importance of effective rabies control to ensure the health of the people and their animal companions. Animal Services Director Bob Marotto stresses the importance of prevention in our communities and the County as a whole. "Prevention is the best measure for effective rabies control. Ensuring that cats as well as dogs are current on their rabies vaccinations is one of the most important responsibilities of a pet owner. And given the requirements of North Carolina law, which ensures the health and safety of the public, it can quite literally be the difference between whether a
pet lives or dies," Marotto said.

Raccoons are a host (or reservoir) species to rabies in our area and the region. Any other animal that becomes rabid in this area is likely the victim of the "spillover
effect." When an animal other than the dominant reservoir species, which is the raccoon in North Carolina, contracts the virus, it is called "spillover." The other species that are most susceptible to getting rabies from raccoons are dogs and cats, groundhogs, skunks, and foxes.

The other host species of rabies of concern in our own region and others is
bats. Of the few cases of rabies in humans in our country in recent years,
most have been traced to bats. If there is any possibility of exposure from a bat, it is critical that citizens immediately contact their animal control program. If an incident involving a bat-or other rabies vector such as a raccoon or skunk-should occur outside regular hours of service, an Animal Control Officer should be reached right away through Emergency Communications (911).

The eight (8) previous rabies case in Orange County in 2009 include three (3) raccoons, two (2) bats, two (2) foxes, and one (1) skunk. Last year, there were a total of twenty (20) positive rabies tests for the County and in 2007, there were nineteen (19) positive tests.

LOW COST VACCINATION CLINICS

Low-cost rabies clinics are offered by the Orange County Animal Services Department. Authorized by North Carolina State law, such county clinics provide pet owners with substantial savings on rabies vaccinations while ensuring that pets have a current vaccination.

There were two clinics in June at the County’s new Animal Services Center and more than 125 cats and dogs were vaccinated at each of these clinics. Three clinics will be held in the latter part of September in conjunction with World Rabies Day. The vaccination fee for all clinics is $5.00, which must be paid in cash. Dogs must be on leashes and cats must be in carriers. For further information, call 942-7387 or
go to http://www.co.orange.nc.us/animalservices/rabies.asp.

DID YOU KNOW?

It is a law in North Carolina that pets over the age of 4 months must have a current and valid rabies vaccination at all times. Orange County’s ordinance also requires that all pets wear a rabies vaccination tag. Pets with current rabies vaccinations that may have been exposed to rabies must be revaccinated within 72 hours or they will be treated as unvaccinated pets.Unvaccinated pets that may have been exposed to rabies must either be destroyed or quarantined at a veterinary office for 6 months at the owner’s expense. If a rabies suspect is alive, do not attempt to capture theanimal. Keep visual contact with the animal until Animal Control arrives. Rabies can be transmitted through secondary exposure as well, so do not touch your animal without gloves if it has had any possible exposure to a rabies vector

.

Rep. Jackson Speaks Out

On Monday evening I logged into the audio stream from the NC State House. I wanted to listen to the debate about the school bullying bill, a bill I'd followed for nearly 3 years, and a bill I knew would go a long way towards protecting gay and lesbian students in our public classrooms. I went online knowing I'd hear some things from from the right wing that would be appalling and, yes, hurtful.

But what I didn't expect to hear was a freshmen legislator speak passionately and brilliantly about love. Rep. Darren Jackson (D-Wake), who was sworn in only weeks ago to fill a vacancy, spoke about bullying, about hate, about unfairness and about pain. And what came through, what came from his heart, went far beyond that. I won't try to paraphrase his remarks here; you can read them for yourselves. But it was as fine a speech as I've ever heard on the floor of the NC General Assembly. It brought a tear to my eye then and did again today when I read it in the Independent, reprinted in its entirety.

Rep. Jackson is a great example of the kind of leader we need more of in the NC General Assembly. Wake County is lucky to have him.

UNC Hospital Expansion

There is a good article in this week's News of Orange about the possible construction of new UNC-affiliated hospital in Hillsborough. From an economic development standpoint, and from the standpoint of meeting the healthcare needs of residents of central Orange County, this is an very exciting possibility.

Being Against Marriage Equality: Bad for NC Economy

This article highlights the potential losses to NC's economy because we're an anti-equality state.

You've probably heard before about the specific economic losses for local businesses when gay couples wed in New England. Caterers, hoteliers, florists, wedding planners and so forth are all denied lucrative business when couples leave our state to exchange their vows in a state that welcomes them.

While that's part, a significant part of our ecomonic loss, there is more. I'm referring to the lost opportunities when our state's best educated and most highly skilled workers--like the former Raleigh residents in this article--move to other, pro-equality states. Leaving NC creates a loss for our economy, a brain drain, all because a class of people are treated with respect in one region of the country but not here in our own state.

Equal marriage isn't just about marriage for gays and lesbians. Equality is about preserving the diversity that makes our local economy vibrant and strong.

The Case for Reform

If this article doesn't make you believe our prison system is in need of reform, you have no soul. No one deserves to be treated the way this man was. Regardless of any real or alledged malevolent action on his part, he did not deserve to be beaten like a dog by state employees.

Governor Perdue should demand the resignation the prison guards who were on duty at the time and their supervisors. It's clear the facts are being covered up. We should not stand aside and ignore a cover up and/or the violence inflicted by state employees upon a resident of North Carolina--even a resident in prison.

She also should fire Alvin Keller, NC's Secretary of Corrections. He suggests that the prisoner may have injured himself in a fall. For Pete's Sake. That defies reason. An individual in Mr. Keller's position should be seeking the truth in this matter, not making suggestions that defy common sense. The Governor should take action and do so now.

Six Down, 44 to Go

New Hampshire today became the 6th state to legalize marriage equality. Hats off to the Granite State where they lived up to their motto: "Live Free or Die."

Commissioners Postpone Action on Global Warming

Last night the Orange County Board of Commissioners had an opportunity to prohibit new drive thru windows. Why would we be interested in banning drive thru windows? Many folks view them as a necessary convenience of early 21st century life.

There are two reasons to consider prohibiting them (an action, by the way, that Carrboro took over a decade ago). First, we talk a good game about walkability; the county's new comprehensive plan calls for building a more walkable, pedestrian-friendly community. Yet,our planning regulations all too often create the exact opposite. Drive thru windows, by any reasonable definition, do not promote the pedestrian-friendly development our comprehensive plan calls for.

But the even more important reason to prohibit drive-thru windows is to reduce air pollution and to take our community's first steps towards addressing a global warming. When we're campaigning, we local elected officials make all sorts of promises about the need to address global warming and how we'll do our part. But for the most part the rhetoric hasn't been followed up with action.

Here's a fact I stumbled across when doing some research in the subject of idling cars. When a car idles for an hour, it emits nearly 4 lbs of CO2. Of course, we don't idle our cars for an hour at any one time. But add up how many cars are idling in line at a fastfood restaurant the next time you drive past or at the bank. It all adds up, my friends, and it adds up quickly.

Prohibiting new drive thrue windows (existing ones are grandfathered in and will not be closed down) would be one small but important step toward reducing our contribution to global warming.

Unfortunately, the motion to ban them failed at last night's County Commisioner meeting on a 3-4 vote. Bernadette Pellisier, Alice Gordon and I all voted for the ordinance. After the vote failed, Commissioner Jacobs moved to discuss the matter again in the fall and requested additional information. He may eventually vote for a ban, so the battle is not yet lost.

I fully realize that prohibiting new drive-thru windows will be controversial with many of our constituents. And it may not be a politically easy step to take. But if we are serious about addressing global warming, if our campaign rhetoric means anything, then act we must. Agreed, this is small step that will have only an incremental effect. But it would be a start.

Let's get started and stop talking.

Me: Choir; Krugman: Preaching

Here's the latest insightful analysis from Paul Krugman. Well worth a read.

At last folks are starting to examine the genesis of this economic crisis. Until we understand when and where it all started to go wrong--that is, at what point the US started to dismantle safe-guards put in place in the Great Depression, safe-guards designed to protect our economy--we'll not be able to make informed decisions to get ourselves out of this mess.

The Golden State Doesn't Look So Golden

I just read that California may close up to 220 state parks. Wow, that’s pretty hard to imagine. California has a budget shortfall of over $20 billion dollars.

There are a lot of reasons why California is in such a mess; it’s a complicated tale starting with the passage of Prop 13 in the late 70’s, but the bottom line is that state is teetering on bankruptcy and is virtually ungovernable. It’s sad to watch.

It puts North Carolina’s proposed budget cuts in perspective, I suppose, but doesn’t make it any easier to swallow the draconian measures being considered by our General Assembly: teacher layoffs, cuts in school construction funds, huge cuts in mental health services and other social services, etc .