By Jeff Fleischer

Summer ushers in tick season

Last year, the Lake County Health Department/Community Health Center and its forest preserve district teamed up to study ticks in the area. They found that the county is home to deer ticks, and more than a third of the ticks they studied tested positive as carriers of Lyme disease. (Dog ticks—which don’t carry Lyme disease but can transport other maladies—are also present in the county). Lyme disease can cause rashes and cysts, as well as potentially serious heart problems.

The best way to deal with ticks is to avoid them. Some basic tips include keeping grass cut short, wearing long sleeves or long pants when in wooded areas, and using trails and avoiding brushing against plants when walking in a forest or park.

It’s important to check children and pets for ticks when they’ve been outdoors and to remove the ticks before they cause infections. The Lake County Health Department/Community Health Center recommends checking pets regularly for ticks, especially around the ears, neck, and groin. If there are ticks, either use tweezers to remove them or cover your fingers with thick tissue for protection (don’t use matches or petroleum jelly on the tick). To remove them, pull the ticks upward slowly. Twisting the tick or pulling quickly can break off parts and leave them on the skin.

Disinfect the area where the ticks were and wash hands thoroughly with soap. The health department recommends keeping note of what day the tick was found, as well as storing the tick in a plastic bag and freezing it for later identification in case of illness.

Mandatory spay/neuter ordinance proposed for Chicago

A new city ordinance may require pet sterilization for all people living with cats and dog.

The ordinance, proposed by Ald. Ed Burke, would make it mandatory for all pets more than six months old to be spayed and neutered in hopes of reducing crime rates of dogfighting as well as pet overpopulation, which leads to unnecessary euthanization. Violators would pay a $500 penalty. Licensed breeders would be exempt from the ordinance after passing a required criminal background check. If passed, Chicago would become one of a handful of cities, including L.A., Toledo, and Las Vegas, to have adopted similar laws. —Elizabeth Piwowarski

For more information, visit CityOfChicago.org.

Predators become more prevalent in the Chicago area

The Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve near Buffalo Grove was recently the site of a fight between a coyote and the dog of a park visitor. In April, park officials also found a den of coyote pups, and have warned that coyotes will often perceive dogs as potential threats to pups and
therefore become aggressive—and that visitors with dogs should keep them on leashes.

Recently Chicago police shot and killed a 150-pound cougar in the Roscoe Village neighborhood on the city’s north side. Animal Control officers had tried tracking the animal before police were called in and trapped the cougar in an alley.

While that incident spawned a rash of reported cougar sightings, it’s unlikely that there are many more in the area. Previously, the last confirmed sightings of a mountain lion in Illinois were in 2004 near the Iowa border and in 2000 in downstate Randolph County.

Warmer temps equal increase in heartworm risk

Summer means an increase in mosquitoes, which in turn means an increase in heartworm risk for pets who spend significant time outdoors.

The Batavia-based American Heartworm Society (AHS) recommends giving pets preventative medication on a monthly basis, whether in chewable or topical form. According to AHS President Dr. Sheldon Rubin, only about 75 percent of pets receive the full dosage recommended by veterinarians. “With year-round prevention, if doses are accidentally skipped, the drug is still effective,” he says.

Preventative medicines are designed to curtail heartworms before they or their larva reach pets’ lungs. Treatments are available for dogs who do get the disease, but there is not a similar approved treatment for infected cats.

For more information about prevention and treatment, visit AHS at HeartwormSociety.org.

HSUS donates dog houses as part of anti-dogfighting campaign

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) knows that ending dogfighting involves more than just applying the strong arm of the law. It also means lending a hand––and maybe a dog house––to dog guardians who might easily be lured into the underground world of dogfighting. To that end, the HSUS has expanded its End Dogfighting in Chicago campaign, an anti-dogfighting community outreach program in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, in a decidedly domestic way.

On April 28, the HSUS donated dog houses to 10 Pit Bull guardians through its Raise the wRoof dog house giveaway. HSUS representatives were able to identify the need for dog houses among Austin residents through their outreach work with End Dogfighting in Chicago.

“Although the HSUS urges people to bring their pets inside as members of the family, some dogs are in desperate need of shelter,” says Tio Hardiman, an anti-violence advocate with the HSUS.

The HSUS hopes to eventually expand and adapt the city-specific End Dogfighting in Chicago campaign to other cities across the country. —Melissa Wiley

5 Legislative alerts

Last month, Chicagoland Tails reported on the introduction of House Bill 4844, which was submitted to the state legislature in February by Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago). If passed, the bill would ban the use of euthanasia via carbon-monoxide gas chambers for animals in Illinois.

The legislation, which would be an amendment to the existing Humane Care for Animals Act, was scheduled for a vote in late April. As of press time, the vote has been pushed back, with action extended to May 9. Organizations like the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) back the measure, but the Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association opposes it. Some supporters worry whether the bill can get enough support to pass the legislature.

“The bill is in danger of failing because our voices, their voices have not been heard loud enough,” Jackie Spiker, co-founder of Hope Animal Rescues, told The Edwardsville Intelligencer. “It is extremely important for everyone who wishes to end the suffering of our homeless pets be stopped to make a phone call, write a letter, do whatever you can to help this bill pass.”

Another amendment to the Humane Care for Animals Act, this one dealing with the transport of horses, has passed the Illinois House and now needs to pass the Illinois Senate to become law. House Bill 4162 would prohibit transporting horses in double-decker trailers, which are designed to hold smaller, short-necked animals, such as pigs. In a well-publicized 2007 incident, a double-decker trailer with 59 horses in it overturned, with eight horses dying and another 10 later euthanized because of their injuries. The bill passed on April 8 by a vote of 80–29.

For ways to get involved in urging the Senate to follow suit, visit HSUS.org.