Rabid Coyotes Put the Whole Columbia Valley on Edge

'The situation is serious and a strict quarantine will probably have to be maintained throughout the entire valley.'

This is the way Veterinarian T. B. Hauschild sizes up the rabies 'scare.' There is no longer any doubt but that hydrophobia does exist among the coyotes of the Columbia Valley and that numerous domestic animals have been inoculated with the germ. A report received yesterday from the State College absolutely identifies the disease as hydrophobia. The report was made on a hog’s head which was sent in from the Sutton ranch near Richland. The hog had died some time after it had been bitten by a coyote. Another specimen, the head of a pup, has also been sent to the college but no report has yet been received on it. As a result of the report every dog in the Richland district has been quarantined. Those in town have been shut up by order of the council and those on the ranches by order of the state authorities.

There have been no alarming developments during the week. Considerable furore was created among the farmers living along the river road one day this week when a strange dog went on a rampage and was finally killed at the home of D. C. Borgen. The animal was killed by Mr. Borgen’s dog, but to make sure that he was well killed Mr. Borgen smashed the head with a sledge. As a result the brain was destroyed and it was impossible to take the head as a specimen for analysis.

At the home of C. Christensen this dog attacked a pet coyote. Other strange dogs are reported to have attacked dogs at the homes of H. H. Bowers, R. E. Carpenter, L. Smith and W. H. Layson during the week. All these dogs have been isolated and will be closely watched for symptoms of rabies. It is thought the dog killed at the Borgen place must have come from some of the sheep camps in the Lower Yakima range country.

During the week a cow died on the Wm. Tewalt ranch and a hog on the Jos. Gerards ranch near Finley. Although both these animals showed symptoms of madness it is not definitely known that they were afflicted with hydrophobia.

State Veterinarian Martin has been here this week and is doing his best to prevent the spread of the disease. He says if the owners of dogs will cooperate with the authorities it will not be a difficult matter to stamp the disease out among domestic animals, but to cope with it among the coyotes is going to prove a pretty big task.

This is especially true because of the fact that this year the coyotes appear to be much bolder than usual and there will be the ever present danger of domestic animals becoming inoculated. Many instances have been reported where coyotes have come into barnyards in daylight. Mr. Martin urges that extreme precautions be taken in cases where dogs or other domestic animals have been bitten by coyotes. These animals should be isolated and closely watched until the inoculation period has passed. During the first ten days there is practically no danger of rabies developing, but the symptoms generally become manifest from 15 to 30 days after the wound is received.