Things you MUST avoid in China - the 'peril' things

I don't know why those guys were so alarmed

2. Q: Can I get rabies in any way other than an animal bite?

A: Non-bite exposures to rabies are very rare. Scratches, abrasions, open wounds, or mucous membranes contaminated with saliva or other potentially infectious material (such as brain tissue) from a rabid animal constitute non-bite exposures. Occasionally reports of non-bite exposure are such that postexposure prophylaxis is given.

Inhalation of aerosolized rabies virus is also a potential non-bite route of exposure, but other than laboratory workers, most people are unlikely to encounter an aerosol of rabies virus.

Other contact, such as petting a rabid animal or contact with the blood, urine or feces (e.g., guano) of a rabid animal, does not constitute an exposure and is not an indication for prophylaxis.

While contact with saliva alone can lead to infection I think your friends concern was that in reaching out to pet the dog you were exposing yourself to the chances of being bitten - a reflex action with some dogs.

Less commonly, rabies can be transmitted when saliva
from a rabid animal comes in contact with an open cut on the
skin or the eyes, nose, or mouth of a person or animal

So even if a dog does not bite there is a chance that a friendly lick of your hand while patting it can cause a problem.

I never worried about cats until I read this:

In recent years,cats have become the most common
domestic animal infected with rabies. This is because many cat owners do not vaccinate
their cats before the cats are exposed to rabid wildlife outdoors. Rabies also occurs in dogs
and cattle in significant numbers and, while not as common, has been diagnosed in horses, goats, sheep, swine and ferrets.

Maybe, as a NZer, I should worry more about sheep transmitting the disease   Nothing  worse than having a sheep drooling all over you    haha



  


  

My Chinese friends have a very special way of doing this.  They let me approach the dog, then wait until I've extended a hand for the dog to sniff.  At this point, the dog is slightly nervous, but should calm down quickly, not bite me, and let me pet it,. . . as long as nothing startles it.  It's at that exact moment when my friends typically all decide to scream "NOOOO!!!!!" at the top of their lungs in order to scare the dog as much as possible.
 

You could always give them a choice, the dog could bite them or you can bite them.

That'll learn 'em

Or is that the start of "Things Chinese people MUST avoid in China - the 'peril' things" thread

 

I think the concern over street dogs extends to more than bites and rabies. There are numerous diseases and even parasites ( ) that can be passed by contact with infected dogs...and I'd tend to assume that ANY street dog in China is infected with something and/or other.

I do not want to go on about dogs but. of course. I will. Times have changed and so have the dogs in China.

Dogs in NZ seem to react to anything new - a stranger, noise, etc. A walk through the streets is guaranteed to bring a succession of barking dogs to the fence line.

Ten years ago I came across my first dog in China. It looked tired. As it ambled along (I think amble implies some sort of speed but I cannot think of another word for 'slower than amble'). It took no notice of me. Every dog I came across after that was the same - no interest in me or pretty much anything else.

In recent years, however, there has been an explosion of dogs in China and many of them are of the excitable and yappy kind. We would call them 'ankle-biters' back home - same as we call our kids - and some of these breeds are more challenging. 

I have lived most of the time on the urban-rural fringes of the city where a village is only 5 mins away and 10 mins walk gets you into the fields. Dogs are usually allowed to roam freely. Many of the 'ornamental' dogs sold in the city are bred in these villages so there is an increasing number of them on the streets. Many of them are on the way to becoming feral.

With registration fees so high - it was RMB10,000 in Guangzhou until about a year ago, when it was reduced -  most of these dogs are unregistered and have not had the shots to prevent things like rabies.

I just think it is best to have no interaction with dogs out on the streets.