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Source: http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/50/dtg_rabidraccoon_2010_12_10_bk.html
Raccoon tests positive — but park critics are rabid
By Gary Buiso
The Brooklyn Paper
A Prospect Park raccoon has tested positive for rabies — and park advocates are slamming city and park officials for being part of the problem.
On Dec. 2, the raccoon was discovered to be carrying the viral disease, which could cause death in humans if left untreated. But city officials didn’t reveal the information to the public — and haven’t even been testing the dozens of animals that have turned up dead in the park during a spate of bizarre critter deaths.
Instead, animal corpses have been dumped with the trash rather than dispatched to the Department of Health for proper testing.
“People need to know,” said Anne-Katrin Titze, a state-certified wildlife rehabilitator. “There is already an outbreak of raccoon rabies in Central Park — and it’s clearly moving.”
In Central Park, more than 120 raccoons have tested positive for rabies, city data reveal. To combat rabies there, the city began a widely publicized raccoon vaccination program.
“But the city hasn’t publicized the Brooklyn issue, and people don’t know,” Titze said. ..
Raccoon tests positive — but park critics are rabid
By Gary Buiso
The Brooklyn Paper
A Prospect Park raccoon has tested positive for rabies — and park advocates are slamming city and park officials for being part of the problem.
On Dec. 2, the raccoon was discovered to be carrying the viral disease, which could cause death in humans if left untreated. But city officials didn’t reveal the information to the public — and haven’t even been testing the dozens of animals that have turned up dead in the park during a spate of bizarre critter deaths.
Instead, animal corpses have been dumped with the trash rather than dispatched to the Department of Health for proper testing.
“People need to know,” said Anne-Katrin Titze, a state-certified wildlife rehabilitator. “There is already an outbreak of raccoon rabies in Central Park — and it’s clearly moving.”
In Central Park, more than 120 raccoons have tested positive for rabies, city data reveal. To combat rabies there, the city began a widely publicized raccoon vaccination program.
“But the city hasn’t publicized the Brooklyn issue, and people don’t know,” Titze said. ..
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