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Dogs, Birds, and West Nile Virus

Monday, March 07, 2005

Dead SparrowToday was a big day for Mia, our beagle. She caught her first bird, a sparrow. For the past several months she had been trying so hard to catch one. And now, her efforts have paid off. This is the photo of it.

I would sit in my back patio and watch her. She would observe the birds flying around, landing on the fence, and hopping into the bushes and vines where they made their nests. Mia would crouch down and walk slowly and steadily so as not the jingle the metal dog tags around her neck. Then she would put on the afterburners and jump on the birds.

Today, she managed to trap one of the birds and caught it. I don't know the paw-by-paw details of the altercation. But she clenched the hapless little bird in her jaws, and shook it violently left and right until its bones its shook out of joint.

I'm quite proud of her. She's been trying so hard for so long. But I'm also worried. The West Nile virus is propagated through birds. They carry the virus, and the ticks and mosquitoes that feed on them get the virus too.

The Centers for Disease Control says that dogs that were experimentally infected with West Nile virus showed no symptoms. They also went on to say that its unlikely pet owners can get West Nile virus from their dogs. I suppose that's a relief.

However, there was a teenage girl in my neighborhood that became infected with West Nile virus last summer, though it's believed she got it from mosquitoes. But the virus caused her brain to swell, which ultimately resulted in brain damage. And now, she's not the same person.

While I can trust the CDC that dogs are not affected by West Nile virus, I'll reserve judgement on whether they can transmit the pathogen to their owners. This season has seen an high amount of rainfall, and now there is vegetation growing everywhere. Birds and rodents are going to be in great numbers this spring and summer.

4 Comments:

  • I can't believe a story like this would be posted in the Doggie News. To be proud of your dog for killng a harmless bird is insensitive. Your dog is not hunting with you to feed your family, your dog is killing a innocent animal for the fun of it. And you sit there and watch this, like it is fun to see an animals bones, like you put it, "shook out of joint." What next your neighbors cat comes in your yard and your dog attacks it while you sit there proud of your dog. I know hunting is a natural instinct for most family pets but to incourage this type of behavior and not care about the other creatures from God is uncaring. What if my Chow hunted your beagle should I be proud of her?

    By Anonymous Christina, at 6:46 AM, March 08, 2005  

  • I'm proud that she achieved what she was trying to achieve. I'm not proud of killing, no. But I can't scold her for doing this either.

    Mia is not doing this for the fun of it. Beagles were bred with the nose and the focus for hunting down rabbits. She was able to take these tools, and teach herself to catch this bird. That's what I'm so proud of. She's a very smart beagle.

    She also manages to chase the gophers off of my property too. And if she killed one of those, it wouldn't bother me at all. In fact, I used to have a cat during my teen years at home. And it would manage to catch birds and vermin also. I certainly was not in horror when it did so.

    If a neighbor's dog got loose and went into my property and killed my dogs, that's a property issue. I can sue for damages.

    Do you blame a dog for attacking another dog? No. I don't blame Mia either. I'm not going to train her to leave the birds alone. These birds carry ticks, fleas, mites, and harbor such things as West Nile virus. If she can keep these animals from congregating on my property, then the better for both of us.

    By Blogger Steve, at 8:07 AM, March 08, 2005  

  • Wow, I was roaming around your website to see if I could find who put it together so I could contact them about putting one together for us. Then I ran across your stupid post about your Beagle killing a bird. Now your dog has no blame in this, even though you are wrong about what Beagles were bred to do with birds, but you have major responsiblity here, Steve, to teach your dog better behavior. Hello, you're trying to sell something. Do your really think posts like this will attract people to purchase from you? If you meant to offend people that visit your site, then you have suceeded. If you are trying to be informative, then stick to the subject. This really has nothing to do with West Nile Virus. You need to research your posts better. You should do the right thing, Steve. You should apologize. After all everyone makes a mistake. Then you need to remove this post and any others like it from your website. This post is affecting your sales. As for me, bye bye I've seen enough and I'll take my search and business elsewhere. Jj Jones

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:00 PM, May 13, 2005  

  • Don't listen to these tree huggers. Animals kill other animals, whether for food or sport. That is their nature. How anyone can condemn you, while at the same time OWNING a pet, is beyond belief

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:48 PM, June 16, 2006  

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