No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTTIRE. 113 



to believe may have been exposed (o infection. This (juarautine is 

 established by the serving of a notice on the owner, under which the 

 dog is required to be confined and not to be permitted to go at large 

 unless muzzled or led. In other words, the dog must be confined, 

 or if he is permitted to go in public places or to escape from direc.^ 

 restraint it is required that he shall wear a close and well fitting 

 muzzle that will effectually prevent biting. Dogs that are known to 

 have been bitten by a rabid dog are required to be very closely con- 

 fined until they are destroyed. Destruction of such dogs is provided 

 for under the act of Assembly approved April 1, 1884. 



Whenever it is possible to obtain the head of an animal that is 

 alleged to have died of rabies, this specimen is sent to the laboratory 

 where it is examined by Dr. M. P. Ravenel or Dr. D. J. McCarthy. 

 The quick method oi diagnosis by histological examination is one 

 that is usually adopted, for it has been shown by many control 

 examinations made by the inoculation of rabbits, that the histolog- 

 ical method is eminently reliable. 



When quarantines of individiial animals are established in this 

 way, a good many, often more than one-third of the (luarantined 

 dogs, are destroyed b}- their owners who do not wish to incur the 

 risk that w^ould result from the development of rabies in the quar- 

 antined animal. The others are held in quarantine 100 days from 

 the time of the possible exposure. ^Vhen several cases of rabies 

 have occurred in a given district, and it is evident that many dogs 

 have been exposed that cannot be identified, a general quarantine 

 is established by proclamation of the State Live Stock Sanitary 

 Board of all dogs within a specified area. In order that such a quar- 

 antine may be enforced, ai'rangement is made with the constable 

 or other local officer to destroy dogs found running at large in 

 violation of the quarantine. This method of enforcing the quaran- 

 tine is most effective, and results in the destruction of a large num- 

 ber of stray and homeless dogs that are usually quite worthless 

 and miserable and are a source of great danger in a district where 

 rabies prevails. When a (luarantine of dogs has been established in 

 a borough by ordinance of a borough council, it is important to the 

 efficacy of the quarantine that dogs in the immediately surrounding 

 territory shall also be kept under restraint. In such cases, ui)on 

 request from borough authorities, quaranlijies are established upon 

 dogs in the surrounding townships. 



A large number of instances are knov,'u wherein dogs that have 

 been quarantined have developed rabies, but as they were at the 

 time under observation and restraint, th(\v were destroyed before 

 there was an opportunity for tluMu to propagate disease. Tn this 

 way, rabies has been kept* in check and often completely eradicated 



8—6—1903 



