Kaitlyn Hunt sits by her brother, Brandon Hunt, at Culkin baseball field where she was bitten by a dog on the left side of her face one week ago. She still has a small scratch.(Melanie Duncan Thortis The Vicksburg Post)

[5/3/03]Members of the Vicksburg-Warren Humane Society are asking that the person who stole a dog Monday from their facility on U.S. 61 South return the animal so it can be tested for rabies.

The dog, an Australian shepherd, was being held at the society’s shelter on U.S. 61 South after it bit three people, including a 5-year-old child a week ago at the Culkin Baseball fields. Bunny Reihsmann with the Humane Society said if the dog is not tested within 10 days of the biting, the child could have to undergo a series of shots to avoid a rabies infection.

“It’s a plea for them to return the dog, no questions asked,” Reihsmann said. “All we want is to get the dog tested to help this child.”

The dog was taken from an outside pen at the shelter by someone who cut the bottom of the chain-link fence. The pen had been tagged with a sign that identified the dog and marked, “not for adoption” and “bites.”

Kelly Hunt, the mother of the 5-year-old Kaitlyn Hunt, said the family was at the Culkin field to watch Kaitlyn’s older brother play baseball. Hunt said there were several dogs there that night and most were playing with the children.

“She reached out to pet it and it bit her in the face,” Hunt said.

Kaitlyn was taken to the emergency room at River Region Medical Center where her wounds were cleaned and treated. She was also later given a tetanus shot as a precaution.

The owner of the dog turned the animal over to the humane society after the last biting incident, but Hunt did not ask that it be tested until she learned the 8-year-old dog had had only one set of shots since it was a puppy.

“The rabies concerns me because one of the symptoms is fever and she (Kaitlyn) started running a fever (Thursday),” Hunt said.

Dr. Chris Jackson in the emergency room at River Region Medical Center said the symptoms of a rabies infection in humans usually take at least 20 days to show up and include headaches, fever, nausea and vision problems. Rabies in humans can eventually led to seizures, coma or death, he said.

Jackson added that doctors in Mississippi take rabies on a case-by-case basis because it has been about 40 to 50 years since the last case of rabies in a dog in Mississippi was reported. He said that treatment for rabies in humans is a series of five shots over a month.

“There’s no reason for that child to have to get those shots,” Reihsmann said. “The person that took the dog just may not realize they are compromising a child’s health.”

She said dogs are frequently stolen from the shelter by people who don’t want to pay the $75 humane society’s adoption fee.

The dog is brown and white in color, a male and answers to the name “Chief.” Reihsmann said the dog can be returned to the shelter day or night at a drop-off pen.