Rat Patrol

Kailey is an extremely friendly and gentle dog, so I was really surprised
when she caught and killed a rat about two weeks ago. Ever since then
she does one or more daily patrols in this area where she caught the rat.

After disposing of the dead rat I checked the Internet and found that recently
dogs have been dying in Australia and New Jersey from Leptospirosis contracted
through contact with rat urine. So I put in a call to our vet who reassured
me that in our area the risk to ratters (dogs who exterminate rats) is extremely
low so long as the vaccinations are up to date. There is an outside possibility
that she could contract a tapeworm through contact, but the vet was not concerned
about that because her regular deworming will deal with it. So Kailey should be safe.

So from Kailey's perspective: people are great; dogs are great (except for the scary
ones that growl); deer need to be chased off the road but no further; snakes need to
be sniffed and stared at; but rats - they need to be terminated with extreme prejudice.

We don't see many rats in our neighborhood, and we want it to stay that way.
Kailey is now the hero of the neighborhood.

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