If your dog has mange, please do not take him/her to a public dog park or a public, organized specialized breed dog meet up.
Mange is highly contagious; an unsightly and painful condition caused by burrowing mange mites. Mange is contagious and is spread by contact from infested to non-infested animals. Mange can occur in man, dogs, cats, horses, sheep, cattle and other animals.
When contracted by humans, it often manifests as yeast. It causes excessive peeling of the skin, excessive itchiness, (and particularly on Black skin) unsightly dark, scaly rashes, and will only go away with topical antifungal treatments that can easily be bought over the counter: lotrimin and clortrimazol.
Washing the affected areas with dandruff shampoo also helps.
ThatOne and I eagerly attended a bulldog meetup in North County. The meetup was scheduled to begin at 3pm. We left our home in the Inland Empire at 2:10pm. Dog parks are often hard to find. They’re usually in a secluded part of a neighborhood that really does not want the immediate public to know there is a dog park there, so the signage is virtually next to non-existent.
If you are going to the dog park for the first time, the entrance sign may be so unobvious you may drive past several times. We did not find the park, despite my being more than familiar with the area until about 3:45pm.
The meetup was poorly organized and even more poorly attended. All went well, however, until about 4:15 when a woman showed up with her female, who was not spayed, who was in heat and who had the worst case of mange I had ever seen in over twenty years. Pets should not be permitted to mingle with mangy animals or contact premises occupied by them since individual contact is the most important method of transmission.
I was stunned. I turned to another attendee and asked “Does that dog have mange?” I then immediately asked the owner if her dog had mange. She admitted the dog had mange, but with the caveat that hers was non-contagious, which I found hard to believe. She was uncertain about what type of mange the dog had, and when pressed, volunteered her dog had Sarcoptic mange, but I could tell she had no idea on earth what type the dog had. I am not even confident this dog is under the care and supervision of a vet. But it doesn’t matter: Mange is HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS. PERIOD.
The other attendee with her husband and d0g, Pork Chop immediately left, and I was hot on their heels. I was livid, and frightened and concerned for ThatOne. This was the second meetup where someone brought their dog out with mange. This dog’s mange was not localized and appeared on her face, head and all over her upper body. To add insult to injury, the dog was not spayed and was in heat.
Like me, you may be unemployed. Alone. Seeking companionship or occasional association for your bullie. Like me, you may love your bulldog. But in spite of all that, you may not, YOU MAY NOT bring your unhealthy dog to a public dog park and expose it to healthy dogs. YOU MAY NOT do that! YOU MAY NOT do that!
I have washed my steering wheel, my car, my hands and shoes with a bleach solution. Bleach kills the mites.
I have all the fellow feeling and empathy in the world for you, but I am also a responsible pet owner and I expect– no, I demand the same from all of you. Please, Please, Please don’t bring your unhealthy, un-spayed, un-neutered adult dog around healthy, spayed and neutered dogs whose owners have taken their responsibilities seriously and can, upon demand, produce current immunization records. It’s thoughtless, unloving, inconsiderate and especially unkind to dog owners with puppies.
You love your bullie, and so do we, responsible pet owners. But, in the immortal words of Star Trek’s Mr. Spock “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”
