Leptospirosis

On Oct. 13th, 2017 I lost my once in a lifetime dog, Pippin, to Leptospirosis, a bacterial zoonotic disease that can be transmitted by rodents, including rats, to dogs and humans. After loosing Pippin I wrote this open letter and sent it to the Mayor of Halifax, every City Councilor, Halifax Water (responsible for the sewers in Halifax), and my Federal and Provincial Government representatives. Most I never heard a word back from, some sent condolences and / or they were passing the information on. My City Councilor at the time said they were expecting a report from City staff on the rat problem in Halifax to come back to council in Dec, 2017. In Dec. I wrote my councilor again and was told the report was now due in Feb. This is now Feb. and my councilor is now saying he doesn't know when the report will be coming. From Council minutes the City has been talking about the rat problem for at least several years now.

In the meantime, dogs continue to get sick and die from leptospirosis and their owners end up with thousands of dollars in vet bills along with the heartbreak of loosing their canine companions and Halifax home owners, whether they own a dog or not, are spending thousands of dollars trying to stop rats from getting into their homes. In the meantime this is what I'm living with - seeing rat tracks in the same deck area that my dogs killed a rat that lead to Pippin's death. This area use to be a "safe area" for my dogs. Now I'm afraid to let the dogs out in the area because I know all it will take is for them to lick where a rat has peed and they can get lepto again. I've done everything I can - the yard is clean, I have set traps, I constantly disinfect the area. Except for pulling out the brushes and tearing up the deck in the hope of keeping the rats away, I don't know what else to do! In the meantime The City and Halifax Water does NOTHING but talk and wait for reports! From my own research I know it is not an easy issue to deal with and the problem is not going to go away just because the City gets involved, but every study I've read also states that Cities need to get involved. The problem can't be left up to individuals. Halifax needs to step up to the plate and help - NOW!

As of March 11th, 2018, I've started putting out a critter cam. I'm going to start adding images taken with my critter cam.

Below you will find the first letter I sent to the City, the Major, all the City Councilors, Halifax Water, my Provincial and Federal Representatives and News Media. I am also adding links to information on Lepto, Carriers of the disease and Lepto in Dogs. This will be an ongoing project. I will continue this fight for Pippin for as long as it takes for dog owners to feel safe about letting their dogs out in their own backyards again without the fear of them catching and dying from leptospirosis.

Leptospirosis: An Open Letter to Government - Call to Action to Control the Rat Population in Halifax, Nova Scotia

“Dog owners should chill out about the risks of a bacterial infection making the rounds among Halifax dogs, health officials say.” Halifax Chronicle Herald Oct. 29th, 2017 (1)

I can only think that whoever made this callous comment does not like dogs or at least has never felt the heartbreak of the loss a dog to Leptospirosis and felt the helplessness of the owner to protect their beloved dog from this terrible bacterial disease. I certainly hope it is not a sentiment shared by all government officials!

Pippin (2), died of Leptospirosis(3) on Friday, Oct. 13th, 2017. On Monday Oct. 9th, he was playing with my other dogs in my yard and jumping up on the table to get groomed, on Wednesday he was at the vet office and by Friday morning, he was gone. Pippin was my once in a lifetime dog, a multi Best in Show winner, my main leader on my sled team and a Therapy Dog for children at Ronald McDonald House. At the time of his death Pippin was almost 11 years old so other than his visits to Ronald McDonald House, he was a house dog. He did not go to dog parks or other high-risk areas. Pippin contacted Leptospirosis in my own backyard from the rats that are now infesting ALL of Halifax. (4) I could not keep him safe from this disease in my own backyard!

I’ve been told by my City Councillor, Russell Walker, that when Halifax Water took over control of the Halifax sewer system in 2007 it stopped baiting the sewers. This baiting was one way of helping to control the rat population. An Oct. 10th Chronicle Herald (4) article also states that despite all the construction going on in the city there is currently NO Bylaw in place that requires construction crews to bait or trap sites before and during construction. The matter is with staff to go to council in December. Isn’t that putting the ‘cart before the horse’? Did no one in Government have the foresight to realize that these things alone would lead to an increase rat problem in this port city and therefore a possible rise in diseases carried by rats? Rats were not an issue in my neighbourhood 10 years ago, but the problem has increased significantly particularly over the past several years. This past summer I trapped 15-20 rats in my garage alone and I’ve been told about someone else who videoed rats on school playground equipment!

The Oct. 29th Chronicle Herald article (1) quotes the medical officer of health for Halifax, Tracy Barron, as saying “We do not have statistics on its [Leptospirosis] prevalence in (Nova Scotia) because it is not required to be reported to Public Health. Leptospirosis is not a notifiable disease (here) because of its limited impact to public health.” So Public Health does not track the disease and has no statistics on it because it is currently not an issue in this area. How do they know it is not an issue when they have no statistics? And just because a disease wasn’t a concern in the past that doesn’t mean health and government officials should put their heads in the sand and assume it is not going to be a problem in the future. Our climate is changing and that change is bringing new diseases to our area. A study funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada states “Clinicians, laboratory medical practitioners, and public health officials should be aware of the risk of local infection with emerging vector-borne diseases in Canada, including those that may not be provincially or nationally notifiable.” (5) Leptospirosis is transmitted by coming into contact with the urine of carriers such as rats and raccoons and the warmer weather we are having means that the bacteria is more of a risk then it was in the pass. Dogs sniff and lick the ground, young children put their hands on things and then put them into their mouths so no matter how supposedly small the risk, both ARE still at risk to this and other diseases carried by rats. One life loss, is one life too many!

Government officials have already dropped the ball on controlling the spread of Lyme disease carrying ticks throughout the Province. (6) Is the spread of Leptospirosis from rats and raccoons next? The primarily area of concern might be Halifax at the moment but the rat population is increasing throughout Nova Scotia (7) so this, again like Lyme Disease, could become a Provincial wide issue in the future if nothing is done to control the problem now. For government officials to dismiss the growing rat problem and the spread of Leptospirosis among dogs in Halifax is not just callous but irresponsible and I for one do not intend to “chill out” until I can once again feel my dogs are safe in my own backyard! The City, Halifax Water and other Government officials have been discussing this problem long enough. The public does not need education and awareness. We are WELL aware of the problem and have been trying to deal with it as best we can but the burden of responsibility for this issue should not be placed solely in the hands of the public. (8) (9) It is time for Government officials to step up to the plate and ACT NOW to help bring the rat population in this City and across the Province under control BEFORE spring brings warm weather again and we see more deaths from this and other rodent carrying diseases.

Brenda Potter