Woman asks for info on dog that bite her son
A Markleysburg woman is asking the owner of a dog that bit her son on the hand during a “tagging” fund-raiser for the Uniontown Area High School boys soccer team Saturday in Uniontown to contact her and tell her if the dog has had its rabies vaccination. Kathleen Myers said a small white longhaired dog, which was in the front seat of a car, bit her son T.C. as he was accepting money from the woman, who was driving at the Five Corners intersection near Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 47.
“The dog kind of jumped out of the window and nipped him in the hand,” Myers said.
It happened between 9 and 11 a.m. when T.C., a 10th-grader at Uniontown Area High School, and some teammates were tagging.
She said she doubts the dog had rabies, but she did not want risk her son’s life, so he already started undergoing rabies treatment, which consists of nine vaccination injections and one tetanus shot.
Rabies is a deadly viral disease that attacks the neurological system and is spread by the bite of a rabid animal. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the vast majority of cases occur in wild animals like raccoons, skunks, bats and foxes, while domestic animals like cats, cattle and dogs account for less than 10 percent of all reported cases.
If the dog’s owner calls Myers and confirms that the pet has received its rabies vaccinations, T.C. can forego the rest of the shots. Myers can be reached at 724-329-3324.
On Wednesday, he received four rabies shots and one tetanus shot. The next shot is scheduled for today, another will be administered Tuesday and the last three would be spread out over the next two weeks.
Luckily for T.C., the vaccine is now injected into the arm and not the stomach, as the shots once were.
Each shot costs $300, and all 10 will cost $3,000. Myers said her insurance provider has refused to pay for the injections because the dog was not running loose when the bite occurred.
T.C. said the bite wasn’t painful, but it was “just enough to punch the skin.”
Wednesday’s treatment “kind of hurt,” he said.
He said it happened quickly, and he could describe the car only as a white four-door vehicle.
Myers, who was present with other parents, said she thought the car was a large or mid-sized Cadillac, but others thought it was a Pontiac or an Oldsmobile.
The female driver appeared to be middle-aged with dark hair, possibly with a little gray.
“It kind of upset me that she drove off,” Myers said.
Regardless, Myers said she is not interested in suing the owner, but she just wants to find out if the dog has rabies.
She said she has contacted city police, state police, area veterinarians and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals but received no help in her search.
Uniontown Police Chief Kyle Sneddon said collecting money in traffic is dangerous, and he does not condone, encourage or recommend the activity. He said he used to schedule tagging for teams or organizations that asked for permission, but he ended the practice.
“I don’t think a kid out in the street collecting money is safe,” Sneddon said.
The city has no ordinance prohibiting tagging, but he considers it a violation of the section of the state Vehicle Code that prohibits blocking or obstructing traffic. Sneddon said he knows high school sports teams and cheerleaders do it, but he or his officers will “shut them down” if the department receives a complaint.
Myers said she doesn’t like tagging either, but it is an effective way to raise money. The boys collected more than $1,000 in just a few hours Saturday.
She said soccer doesn’t generate revenue for the school district like football does, but more district funding would make such fund-raising activities unnecessary.
District Superintendent Charles Machesky said the district provides funding for uniforms and needed equipment for all sports teams and cheerleading squads, but it sometimes conducts fund-raisers for extras.
“We supply all basic provisions. It’s pretty consistent,” Machesky said, noting that fund-raising “is for the extras.”
He said the district used to obtain permission from the city for tagging, but the city “washed its hands” of the practice a year or two ago.
“They’re out there on their own. There are other creative ways to raise money. We don’t encourage that activity, and the city doesn’t condone it,” Machesky said.
He said he hadn’t heard about Saturday’s incident but hopes the boy is OK and the dog is found.
Despite the dog bite, Myers hasn’t ruled out tagging in the future.
If they go again, she said, the rule will be not to approach any vehicle with a dog inside.