Guest lavendergirl Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 The information needs to come from the appropriate authorities and it needs to be correct. As it is we have various spokespeople from government departments etc contradicting each other - supposedly highly qualified people in their fields. The general public and pet owners will understand that hard decisions have to be made if they are provided with factual information about the need for those decisions. That said if whole towns are being made unliveable because of plague proportions of bats at what stage is it considered reasonable to consider that the increase in size of the bat population is unsustainable both for the environment and the human population? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoofnHoof Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Since a comprehensive risk assessment cannot be made without far more information than we currently have then yes I do have a problem with putting pets down in the interests of public safety since the relative risk to public safety at this point is largely unquantified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danielle Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Dusty the kelpie has been PTS as further tests concluded he was indeed a danger to his family. Rest In Peace pupper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsdog2 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 R.I.P Dusty - my heart goes out to your family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianca.a Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Run free sweet Dusty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lavendergirl Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 The family issued a statement (below) explaining they had taken the decision to have Dusty PTS by their own vet after the tests confirmed he carried antibodies to the virus and may be able to pass the virus to other animals. Poor family - RIP Dusty and the three horses. "Our beloved dog Dusty was humanely euthanased by our family vet after results of his most recent blood tests confirmed that he carried Hendra virus antibodies, which meant he was able to shed the virus to other animals," the Fearons said in a statement. "... We are devastated by the loss of our fourth family animal to the Hendra virus and are particularly saddened to witness the affect the loss of our young dog has had on our children," the statement said. "We remain in awe of the support our family has been offered by friends and strangers nationwide. "The campaigns and messages of support continue to comfort all of us." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mags Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Horrible for his poor family. RIP little man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danielle Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 As I've said, the virus lies dormant and can be shed years later. Dusty was a ticking timebomb. As yet we still don't know if canines can transfer the virus to humans so it's better to err on the side of caution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsdog2 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 As I've said, the virus lies dormant and can be shed years later. Dusty was a ticking timebomb. As yet we still don't know if canines can transfer the virus to humans so it's better to err on the side of caution. I think the family made the right decision too and using their own vet was also the right decision - an absolutely heart breaking decision though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakway Posted July 31, 2011 Author Share Posted July 31, 2011 A very brave and correct decision was made by the family to put Dusty down, now that more facts have been realeased about this disease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Poor sweetheart - he looked like a gorgeous dog. What a horrible last few weeks he must have had, hopefully his last moments were peaceful, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I'm glad they were given the time to learn about the dangers and make the decision for themselves. I've learned a lot from this thread too. Wouldn't mind the link to the csiro article because it didn't come up with what I googled. It would be nice if the politicians and department heads read their own info packs before they start spouting off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Showpony Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I'm glad they were given the time to learn about the dangers and make the decision for themselves. I've learned a lot from this thread too. Wouldn't mind the link to the csiro article because it didn't come up with what I googled. It would be nice if the politicians and department heads read their own info packs before they start spouting off. Hi, www.csiro.au/science/Hendra-Virus.html Try this, should be a 4 page article. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 This is a really scary disease. So far I think we have been really lucky that more people haven't died. A similar virus, Nipah virus, killed over 100 people and a million pigs had to be put down in one outbreak. RIP Dusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 (edited) Dusty has been put down. Linky I think they should start quarantining dogs and horses from Hendra affected areas, if they haven't already. This puts the reach of the disease well beyond bat habitat. ETA: oops I see that was mentioned by Oakway. Edited August 1, 2011 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempus Fugit Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Unfortuneately you can't quarantine flying foxes. The genie may already be out of the bottle, like with cane toads, a much larger and visible beast than a virus, which authorities so far have been unable to eradicate, and which are inexorably spreading. Eventually the disease will probably get into the feral horse and dog populations - and other ferals if the virus is good at mutating. Mandatory vaccination of domestic animals may be the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubiton Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Unfortuneately you can't quarantine flying foxes. The genie may already be out of the bottle, like with cane toads, a much larger and visible beast than a virus, which authorities so far have been unable to eradicate, and which are inexorably spreading. Eventually the disease will probably get into the feral horse and dog populations - and other ferals if the virus is good at mutating. Mandatory vaccination of domestic animals may be the future. No you cant quaratine the bats but you can cull the ones straying from their 'native habitat' into populated areas - apparently the fruit growers had done that in the past and the bats stayed away probably back in the wild but once they were stgopped from culling one or two whole colonys moved into areas they hadnt been before. And now that natural disaster has driven them into areas where people live still cannot see why they are not culled like kangaroos and other natives that wander into to towns and cities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Yes but culling (or attempting to cull) the bats makes them more infectious and makes the outbreaks worse or more likely. http://www.medicalsearch.com.au/News/Culling-bats-could-aggravate-Hendra-outbreaks-in-QLD-52924 And as I wrote and linked before - about 30% of the fruit bat population are carrying the virus. The CSIRO article is really interesting. Hopefully they will have a vaccine soon - though that seems to be difficult with the retrovirus types. Really need to prevent horses from being under bat roosting trees. Which isn't easy. And people don't get the virus directly from the bats - or we would have been having a massive problem nationwide already. It has to go through the horse first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danielle Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 (edited) It's not so much the bats straying into populated areas, but more so humans encroaching onto their land. Sadly development of land is causing bats and humans into closer proximity to one another. Culling bats won't help and will only exacerbate the problem. Unfortuneately you can't quarantine flying foxes. The genie may already be out of the bottle, like with cane toads, a much larger and visible beast than a virus, which authorities so far have been unable to eradicate, and which are inexorably spreading. Eventually the disease will probably get into the feral horse and dog populations - and other ferals if the virus is good at mutating. Mandatory vaccination of domestic animals may be the future. No you cant quaratine the bats but you can cull the ones straying from their 'native habitat' into populated areas - apparently the fruit growers had done that in the past and the bats stayed away probably back in the wild but once they were stgopped from culling one or two whole colonys moved into areas they hadnt been before. And now that natural disaster has driven them into areas where people live still cannot see why they are not culled like kangaroos and other natives that wander into to towns and cities. Edited August 1, 2011 by Danielle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Yes but culling (or attempting to cull) the bats makes them more infectious and makes the outbreaks worse or more likely. http://www.medicalsearch.com.au/News/Culling-bats-could-aggravate-Hendra-outbreaks-in-QLD-52924 And as I wrote and linked before - about 30% of the fruit bat population are carrying the virus. The CSIRO article is really interesting. Hopefully they will have a vaccine soon - though that seems to be difficult with the retrovirus types. Really need to prevent horses from being under bat roosting trees. Which isn't easy. And people don't get the virus directly from the bats - or we would have been having a massive problem nationwide already. It has to go through the horse first. I expect some property owners will tackle the issue with a chain saw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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