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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: How common is rabies in China? Is it safe to pet a stray dog?
Ive been petting dogs all the time in China but recently a friend scalded me for taking such a "big risk". But is it really such a big risk. Don't they have foam around their mouth if they have rabies?
11 years 45 weeks ago in Health & Safety - China
I posted about rabies in China before. Don't pet strays in China. rabies are common in China and so is dying from bites.
http://answers.echinacities.com/node/58623
TedDBayer:
they keep taking my signature off, even if it isn't offensive, which I don't think I am.
It is safe to pet a stray dog.. provided you get it checked by a doctor.. also take the required vaccinations.. very easily available in small roadside pet hospitals..
But the risk is its temper..etc.. unless u know the breed very well....
I think petting any kind of animals you've never met before isn't a good idea.. If you know that it's a pet and it's on a leash, it's probably fine.
Just keep in mind that there are a lot of stray animals in China and rabies does spread very easily through these stray / abandoned animals. Someone once told me that part of the reason Chinese eat dogs is that there are so many stray dogs they can be dangerous to children as they can carry diseases, fleas, mites, ticks, intestinal parasites (ie: worms), etc.. In addition to the fact that they can be a nusiance with biting people, chasing people, wandering in and out of traffic, or eating food from the street vendor's stands..
It's not just rabies you have to be careful of.
Also, don't forget that those stray dogs likely have intractions with rats and rats carry diseases and parasites like no other animal known to man.. I believe historians nowadays attribute rats to the plague and at one point rats were responsible for killing half the population of people in Europe.
So although I'm sure petting a stray dog isn't as bad as petting a rat, it's still not a good idea..
It's not safe to pet stray dogs in China because none of them get any shots. Back home, dogs are vaccinated for certain things, and strays are taken care of fairly quickly, but that is not the case in China. You really are taking a big risk.
GuilinRaf:
I would go one step further: Generally speaking, it is not safe to pet any dog you do not know, especially a stray. Even if they are rabies free, many are distrustful of humans and may bite out of fear. Depending on the size and temperament of the dog, it could be an annoying nip to something much much worse.
And, believe me, I think dogs are great!
Jnusb416:
I'm a dog lover, but I didn't go near any stray dogs. They didn't come close to me either, most of them were very skittish. It was obvious that they didn't want to be touched. What kind of stray dogs do these people know that they can even get close to them? Maybe they mean dogs that have owners but are allowed to run free? Or recently abandoned dogs?