“I'm furious and beyond devastated. Animal Services showed up at my house today, to seize Twizzler. They stated the finder had reported that Twizzler had bitten her son. So they were taking her to kill her and test for rabies. I contacted the finder. Her son was never bitten or scratched. She never ever once stated to them that her son was bitten.  Animal Services lied and confiscated Twizzler to kill her. I never had a choice. They lied. I'm just about done with all of this nonsense.  I don't even know if I want to continue rescuing, with so much adversary. I'm so upset I was lied to and I couldn't do a thing about it. I'm just about done.” https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0tUo3aYuaTHG2kU9yT6Ch4PmkGky37AJbyFtaGKzqAZdCZ3EFP1SH7w3xNgVcDdBul&id=100080189184566

Above is a quote from Crikey Wildlife Rescue in Spring Hill Florida.  

Twizzler was seized and killed by Pasco Animal Services.  We would like Pasco Animal Services to update their procedurals to rehabilitate wildlife instead of killing.  The rabies bylaw only says actual bites must be reported (touching an animal doesn’t transmit rabies).  No mandate to kill an animal, and it is actually illegal to kill a cat or dog for rabies testing.  Ask them to change the laws to say “animal” rather than “cat or dog” in reference to quarantine.  https://library.municode.com/fl/pasco_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTICOOR_CH14AN_ARTIIANCO_DIV3RACO_S14-79DUANSEDESURACA

Raccoons are legal as pets in Florida.  We would like raccoon bites to be handled non lethally, similar to a cat bite or minor dog bite.

Twizzler was another P’nut and Fred, another victim of the rabies Flourescent Antibody Test.  Post mortem rabies testing kills far more animals than rabies itself.  Thankfully there is a humane test, but it is only approved for human use.  A non lethal test would revolutionize animal welfare and healthcare, allowing any volunteer to simply take a sample and it avoids lengthy quarantine and euthanasia of healthy animals.  It would open up international adoptions for animals too.  Canada bans imports of dogs because of a lack of an approved humane rabies test.  

We would like the government of Florida and the federal CDC to switch rabies testing to a live test and to automatically vaccinate a person or pet who is bitten by an animal whose vaccination status is unknown.  

I found evidence that antemortem tests, while less accurate than a brain autopsy, still work quite well, especially if several tests are conducted.  https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/hcp/suspected-human-rabies/index.html

The CDC gives absolutely no logical explanation as to why the rabies live tests work in humans but not animals, especially considering that unfortunately, all human medicine was originally tested on animals.  So logically the live human tests will work in non humans.  

The only reason I can think of for the Peanut and Fred Decapitation Test is that the test gives an excuse for authorities to kill animals.  

Toronto tried banning lethal pest control methods in 2014 but was stopped by the fur industry who used rabies as a cover for the real reason; they like turning raccoon bums into silly hats.  

Thankfully, in Canada, there are no laws mandating rabies testing of wildlife.  Rabies laws only apply to pets and farm animals here, because wildlife is not “owned” and not a liability.

Also sign and share this similar petition.
https://www.thepetitionsite.com/805/924/113/stop-killing-animals-for-rabies-testing/