212 BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



to secure licenses for their canines. The local authorities 

 also have ample power in the event of an outbreak of rabies 

 to require that all dogs shall be properly and securely muzzled 

 or restrained from running at large. 



The difficulty seems to be that in many communities the 

 local authorities are lax in the enforcement of such orders, 

 and while the laws are good, they are rendered inoperative 

 because of their non enforcement. 



The same difficulty was met with in England, where it was 

 found that much more rapid progress was made in the eradi- 

 cation of rabies when muzzling and restraining orders were 

 issued by the Board of Agriculture than when they were 

 issued by the local government boards. Muzzling orders par- 

 ticularly are often not properly enforced, and dog owners use 

 so-called muzzles that are inefficient because they do not pre- 

 vent a dog from biting. A restraining order well enforced is 

 better in many respects than an order to muzzle or restrain. 

 Then the muzzling order does not as a rule cover a sufficient 

 length of time; and, again, one town may issue a muzzling 

 and restraining order and the next town may not, and there- 

 fore the order does not cover a sufficiently large area of con- 

 tiguous territory, especially when one takes into consideration 

 the distance a rabid dog frequently runs. In these cases the 

 State authority should assert itself, to secure co-operation 

 between communities and a stricter enforcement of the law. 



One difficulty in managing rabies is due to the varying 

 period of its incubacy, as a dog may develop rabies in two or 

 three weeks after being bitten, or it may go four or five 

 months or even longer before showing symptoms. 



When the danger and seriousness of such a disease as 

 rabies are considered, it would appear to be of sufficient im- 

 portance to warrant the Bureau of Animal Industry of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture to take the matter 

 up under the authority given by act of Congress to the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture. 



If the various State veterinarians, live stock sanitary 

 boards, cattle commissioners, or whatever the authorities hav- 

 ing control of the contagious diseases of animals in the differ- 

 ent States may be, could be required to report annually to the 



