The United States of America is a great nation, I can't think of any other country that I would pick to live in other than this one. Having said that...the bulk of the government stinks. I was about ready to dump the coon cooler in a dumpster and be done with it I was so aggravated earlier. I even thought about carefully setting the cooler (which had "RABIES SPECIMEN" written on all sides as instructed by the State of Alabama Health Department's website) on a traffic island at a high-traffic intersection and see if they sent in hazmat teams or something to secure it.<sigh>
I arrived early this morning at the county health department. I explain to the ladies what I have, what I've done to secure it (ice, insecticide, double-bagging, etc.,). While I'm talking with one lady another is calling "the boss" who is out of town. He wants to talk to me. Upon talking with him I instantly get the impression from him that he doesn't want to fool with me nor the coon. He tells me that I need to take it to the local vet to have it's head removed. I tell him that the "Rabies Specimen Acceptance Criteria" as written on the State's website says that anything under 24 inches and less than 20 pounds can be sent in with the body entact. His response..."You might have found something official but I've been doing this for twenty five years! Only the head is sent in, never the entire animal.". Oh, and he re-iterated the 25-year thing again. Huh??? Seems like in twenty five years he might have read the rules.
Anyhow, I tell him I'll see what I can do about getting it to the vet. Btw, this is the same vet that yesterday told me to carry the coon to the health department.
By now, my aggravation meter is rising.
Ok, I drive to the vet's office but she's not there so I talk with her assistant. First thing is she is dumbfounded as to why the health department sent me to them. She says that unless it's a really big dog they usually don't severe the heads...that they didn't have to unless they were of a certain size". This last information, she said, was communicated to them from the top guy at the county health department...the same guy that sent me to the vet. From what I gathered from her it sounded like they (the vet office) do send in specimens but normally from situations that they are actively involved in, not as a state drop-off location for rabies specimens. Wait a minute...he told the vet that they will accept bodies of a certain size, but he tells me that no bodies are accepted...only heads.
I thank the vet's assistant for her information and leave with the "Chilly Coon from Crenshaw County" and go to my office and it sits in my jeep for a while...though it's not looking out the window and no one is coming up wanting to know if they can pet it. (Ok, some sick humor....).
The health department had my name and number and about thirty minutes later the phone rang. It was a woman, who the best I could understand was the supervisor for the guy at the health department. I could tell she was on a speakerphone and when I told her there was a bad echo she apologized and said she was on a speakerphone so "everyone could hear". She was nice enough and apologized for aggravation and frustration. She told me to bring the coon back to the health department but asked me pour the ice and water out of the cooler so as not to contaminate the workers down there. They would put it in their refrigerator. Wait a minute...the state protocol was to ice the specimen down but now I've got to remove it from the ice so the employees aren't contaminated...I guess since I've already been messing with it I'm probably immune or something.
She went on to tell me that the vet would've charged something like $10 to cut the head off which I would have had to pay for...but since they were going to take care of it for me that it wouldn't cost me anything.
The coon was delivered and I should hear back Wednesday or Thursday.
After I got back to the office I called the bet back and asked how much they would charge to cut the coon's head off. The assistant really didn't know and said I'd have to check with her boss. I asked her if it would be $10. She quickly said it would be WAY MORE THAN THAT!!! ...which is what I figured. I mean, I'm not going to be hacking on a possibly rabid coon for $10....just the sterile/safety attire would run more than that.<sheese>
I have no idea if all of this makes sense or if I'm just squalling like a little girl that just got dumped by her beau.
Aggravated? Frustrated? Yelp. Yelp. Wondering why so many people are hacked off with our government these days? Nope.
Ed
Btw, if anybody wants a quick primer on rabies this is a pretty good page to check out....
http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/facts/rabies.html?credit=web_id88988707#Which_Species_Carry_Rabies