The Gastonia Gazette from Gastonia, North Carolina • Page 3

Dog bites are increasing; 'Shepherds'a re blamed EDWARDS The children were running Md the dog WM barking. They to be enjoying the romp in the yard. But the do( suddenly became frightened perhaps when the WUe ffet playfully slapped him the back and ripped into her lee with his sharp teeth. She went home screaming, taring a trail of blood. Another case of dog bite had Mot recorded in Gaston Coun- IN A TYPICAL month, there an 30 to 35 dog by the Gaston County dog Some are bad ones, enoufh for the victim to I time in the hospital seem that we are having more dog bites than we to have." Mid Wayne ftntth, the county dog warden, "and I think that per cent of Ike bttes involve German Shepherd dogs or mixed breed dogs that have German Shepherd Smith has been bitten himself.

hate two of the dog wardens working for him. September was a particularly bad month lor dog bites. In Mlas a large dog broke his chafe and bft two boys who ware roller skating in the road, fatffa MM. One child was bitten the left hip. The other was Mton on the right band and his What to do If a dog bites you or someone you know, please call the Matthews Animal Shelter immediately.

The law requires it your protection and for the dog's protection. Here is the procedure to follow, according to Wayne Smith, superintendent of the animal shelter which is located on the Dallas-Cherryville highly: "Whenever a person bitten by an animal suspected of having rabies, we advise that the animal be kept alive aml tnat securely confined and placed under observation ior a period of 10 to 14 days. "Under no circumstances should an apparently normal animal be killed for the purpose of diagnosis. The quickest and most certain method of determining that the suspected animal did pot have rabies and was not infectious is to keep it alive for a period ot 10 to 14 days. the animal is still normal at the end of 10 the bitten person is in no danger of rabies and treatment will not be necessary.

If the animal develops symptoms of the disease or it it should die of any cause during the period ol observation, the animal's bead should be sent to the state laboratory for examination." Smith continues: "The administration of anli-rabic treatment to the bitten person need not be started until after the diagnosis of the animal has been made, unless the bites are about the bead of the person. Where bites are on the extremities there is ample time to confer immunity and protect the patient after the diagnosis has been made on the suspected animal. People bitten about the head or face should start their anti-rabic treatment at once, still keeping the dog under observation. If it is established that the dog does not have rabies, the treatment can be discontinued." "We nicked up the dog," tatth laid, "and took to the dtf pound. The was wear- tot a vaccination tag, so we knew It waa reasonably safe However, the Carton District Coort oriwcd the dog brought court hr trial.

The judge the dof guilty of biting, and put Urn under probationary "Under the court's order," Smith, "tab dog couM stay to CMn County if it found a home to a rural area. But it QMkkt't live in a city where ehBdren are playing." Smith said that the owner of a dog must accept the responsibility for his dog's behavior. All dogs four months old or older must be vaccinated against rabies. This is done by a licensed veterinarian. Each dog must wear the county tax tag and the rabies tag at all times.

Dogs found without the tags are considered strays. SMITH HAS some additional advice for dog owners: "You must prevent your dog from chasing pedestrians, bicycles, or other vehicles. If your dog has this habit, break it. 'Teach your dog not to disturb others. You are responsible if the dog becomes a nuisance by becoming a habitual barker, turning over trash cans, or damaging flowers or gardens." Smith has some advice for the rest ot us, too.

"Persons must not bait or tease dogs," he said. "They must not harbor dogs not their own without the owner's permission. "Motorists must report to the animal shelter, or the owner, when a dog is run over. If a dog bites an individual, notify the animal shelter and the Gas- liiii Health director. The dog must be penned up for a period of not less than 10 days." Dogs not wearing tags are subject to being picked up Dy the warden.

These untagged dogs will be kept at the shelter 101 three days. Unless claimed by the owner, the dogs will be offered for sale or put to sleep in the gas chamber. SMITH ESTIMATES that dogs live in Gaston County. Most of them are good dogs. They don't bite people or tear up their neighbor's garden.

But there are some bad ones. They bite children and chase cars. Some have never been vaccinated. It's the bad dogs that keep Smith and his assistants busy. "If a dog bites three times, he is declared a vicious animal," said Smith.

"I don't know whv it takes three bites, but thnt's what the law says." After a dog is declared vicious, it must be penned up or kept on a leash at all times. An owner violating this condition could be fined $50 or sent to jail for 3D days, or both. "We don't have a leash law in Gaston County for normal dogs," said Smith. "This means that dogs may run loose if they are wearing the proper tags and if they don't make themselves nuisances by chasing cars, barking constantly, and tearing up yards or gardens. "I understand that Cherryville Cramerton do have leash laws but they are not enforced." DR.

WALTER DICKSON, Gastonia veterinarian, advises people to be very careful handling German Shepherds, He says they are high-strung dogs, quite unpredictable, and might bite. He said, too, that every dog owner should have his dog vaccinated at regular intervals. Three-year booster shots are being administered in Gaston County. "We haven't had a case of rabies," Dr. Dickson said, "in 20 years.

But if people become complacent about the vaccinations, we could be in trouble if the first case occurred here. We must have 75 per cent of the dog population vaccinated to prevent an epidemic if the disease were found here." Nature trail has good fall colors By K. A. STOUT IHnHwr Autumn is a favorite tini? lit year in Oaslon County because of the beautiful lull colors, the brisk mornings, and the clear blue quality that the sky robes itself in during this season. These are the hoarding days, Bees are getting in a late harvest for the winter, thanks to persistant goMenrods and late summer asters.

Along the nature trail stiff-tailed chipmunks are scurrying about, busily filling their underground granaries with seeds. Tiny field mice are busy, too, and you can find their track tracings on the frost of leaves these cold mornings. These are apple cider days, a time for people to pick pumpkins and bring bouquets of bright leaves into the house. Ever wonder why poison ivy is so tantalizingly beautiful in the tall? Or just how red a sumac leaf can get? Or why a whole ridge full of oaks look like they have been washed in wine? Or why sassafras puts on pale yellow tresses one year and orange and purple another? Or why one maple flames brilliantly in scarlet while a sister tree close by is still green? Did you ever notice how the hillsides seem to leap into flames of color in October? Or how the pungent smell of woottamoke seems In suit the day? THATO FALL FRIEND, A collection impressions that indelible in our A time for shucking corn and making pumpkin pies. A time for wearing sweaters to rake leaves.

A time to get out the family quilts at home and cradle a cup of hot coffee just a little longer each morning. A time for getting out in the open spaces, perhaps along the Nature Trail at the Museum. You can watch the stream there and see autumn flowing by, eddying against the stones with colorful samples from every bush and tree along the way. Thus comes autumn, leaf by leaf and tret; by tree. Pause by one tree and look, and you can see autumn on all the hills.

Pick up one leaf of those cast adrift in the stream and you hold autumn in your hand. EIGHTH GRADERS are studying their Earth and Space Sciences programs at the Museum and Planetarium now. Schools using this facility this week included William C. Fir- day Junior High, STanley Junior High and Belmont Junior High. Special groups included a youth group from Parkdale Baptist Church and "Parents without Partners" from Hickory.

READY FOR These two woodchucks are fat from summer feedings and now that autumn is in the air, they are ready to retire to their stump home for the coming winter. SB A helps dancer replace her snake CORNING, Pa. What can the Disaster Office of the Smalt Business Administration say to a shapely young ladv wtw needs a loan to replace "lost business The conversation might have gone something like this: Well, young lady, what is your name and what did you lose? My name is Heidi and 1 lost my snake. You're what? A Well, I'm an exotic danc- c' I usu an python in my act. When the Chemimg It'ver overflowed idurin? hurricane Agnes i my python, sound in his cage in the nightclub where I was working, was swept away.

So were my swords and my costumes. SBA officials were dazed, but they couldn't find anything in the regulations against making a loan to buy a snake. Heidi's loan was speedily approved and a check issued. The SBA folks must have commented. "Heidi, ho." TIRED OP BUGS? nwMltl, ProtMttd 25 THMITE CONTtOl NIXON EKtwmimrtinu Company Phont: 864-4303 was unable to find a ten family wanting a large IMMM In the gas cham- Exiled Ugandans face refugee camps DALLAS child I levtrely on the face I the bey tried to pet a dog fete tothertraet.

"Thto bay wai bitten around nauth, cheek and Mt arm," Smith. "We impounded the KM to owner ncMined Sir the period of can of dff bite oc- 1 hi Gwtoala on tot. I bar hied to to hb grawMathfr'i 4af ww a Otrmaa IwMMl by a South Ca- aM him to la "obo- LONDON (API Thousands of Asian immigrants expelled from Uganda face the prospect of remaining jobless in temporary refugee camps until well after Christmas, British authorities say. Only a few have found jobs and homes with state help since President Idi Amin of Uganda ordered their expulsion two months ago. According to official figures, 8.1M Ugandan Attain with British passports arrived by Thursday.

About half are still in tix resettlement camps The others either joined relatives or looked for homes and themselves. Ot the 4.0W admit- tod (he camps, however, only haada of families, or Aaiaw la all, have found and juta with state help, the Uganda Rewtlkmmt Board Another Jo.ooo Ufiindwi Adam an to arrive over the MM month. "AhMt par eeot of thow arriving from Uganda arc homeless and jobless and there is a risk that people will be in these resettlement camps for a long time to come," a Resettlement Board spokesman sadi. He blamed a national housing shortage for delay in finding suitable homes for the refugees. Offers of small accommodations have been turned down in an effort to avoid splitting up families.

The job market is tight. About one million workers arc expected to be unemployed this winter. The government is opening more camps and improving facilities to meet winter conditions. About 30,000 of the Asians, mostly of Indian origin, were given British passports when Uganda gained independence in IMt. Amln charged the Anians were sabotaging Uganda's economy and gave them three mnnllu to Many held key commercial not expected to go to Africans.

Asians arriving in this country have complained that they had their property and funds confiscated before leaving Uganda. In New York at United Nations headquarters, Ambassador G.S.K. Ibingira of Uganda denied those charges. "It is not the of the Ugandan government to mull real departing aliens," he said. The ambassador also gave an assurance to the Unted Nations the Uganda government would not "maltreat or otherwise oppress" any of the Anienf who might remain in Uganda beyond the Nov.

I) deadline for their departure. Ibingira said the government "will still accord them the same protection ax it all other foreign He added the only was that efforts lo remove thv Aiiiim from Uganda muni not he "deliberately slowed down or frustrated." (SUNDAY ONLY mm REG. $1.97 FLEECE LINED MEN'S SWEATSHIRT MELODY SIERRA 1 UPSIDAISY PATTERNS M.57 EACH Popular cotton ntck with knitted collar and pluj raglan Grey, black, white and new campus colors. S- M-t-Xl. UC.

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