Robin Longbottom
Oakworth
Wednesday, October 30, 2019 08:02 |
Cry of Mad Dog
I remember talking to Tom and Reg Ellison back in the late 1960's when they brought up the subject of the 'cry of mad dog' in the village. They may well have been referring to an incident which occurred in 1895 when a mad dog was put up in Embsay, chased through Skipton and then lost. It turned up later that day in Lothersdale and was chased to Glusburn, where it bit a dog belonging to Monro, the coachman for the Horsfalls. Grabbing his gun, Monro and PC Tindall took up the chase and pursued the animal through Crosshills and into Sutton Mill. They eventually cornered the dog in Sutton and Monro shot it. An examination of the carcase confirmed that the dog had rabies. Fortunately nobody had been bitten but a number of dogs it had attacked were later destroyed.
We have lived rabies free in this country since the 1920's but occasional deaths from the disease still occur in Europe. Let's hope that 'doggy passports' will remain robust enough to keep it at bay for the foreseeable future. |
