Last night, my husband and I were driving home from work when we came upon a little dog running around the middle of the road. I wanted to see if I could help it – I love animals and hate to see them get hurt. We pulled over and I called to the dog. He came running up to me, seemingly friendly, so I tried to check to see if he had tags. Suddenly, he went crazy, and started biting my hand. It was awful!

I let him go, but then realized my hand was bleeding. I started crying, more because my feelings were hurt that the dog was mean to me, than from the pain. I’m not used to animals being mean to me, especially when I’m trying to help. That isn’t to minimize the pain, though…it hurts a lot.

We ended up going to the hospital where they cleaned out my hand and gave me a Tetanus shot. (Ouch!) I had about eight or 9 puncture wounds on my hand from the dog. They gave me some Lortab and antibiotics and sent me home.

Today, I contacted our local animal control, and they didn’t seem very hopeful that they could locate the dog. I had to call the Department of Health, and they recommended I get the Rabies vaccine. They asked all about the dog, and because he was very dirty and vicious, and they can’t find him to quarrintine him, I’ll have to go through the series of shots. Apparently, it’s quite painful, so I’m not looking forward to starting it tomorrow. I had no idea how serious Rabies is. Apparently, if you contract it and don’t get treatment, it’s 99% fatal in humans. Scary…so yes, I’m getting the rabies vaccine. It sounds almost comical…like something out of a cartoon or something. I can’t believe I have to get the vaccine! Hopefully I won’t start foaming at the mouth…ha, ha.

If you’re wondering, I’m typing this post very slowly. It’s taking me a lot longer than usual. My hand hurts a lot, so I’ll finish up, but I’ll write more later when it’s feeling better. As a word of advice – don’t approach stray dogs. This one was little (about 12-15 lbs.) but quite mean and vicious. I’ve learned my lesson about approaching stray dogs, but I won’t stop having a soft spot in my heart for animals. At least my Honey Bunny is sweet and soft and cuddly…and doesn’t have rabies!