Man trying to avoid having to endure rabies shots
A Cape Coral man is searching for the owners of a dog that bit him Thanksgiving morning in the hopes of avoiding rabies shots.
Mark McCulley, 57, of 520 S.W. 53rd Terrace, said he was walking near Pelican Boulevard and Southwest 53rd Terrace Thursday when he was passed by a couple with two leashed dogs at about 8 a.m. or 8:30 a.m.
“I just do my routine speed-walk jog every morning,” McCulley said.
He had come upon the couple and their dogs earlier in his morning trek, but as he passed by the group the second time, the dog controlled by the woman reached out and bit McCulley between the elbow and forearm as he passed.
“He basically got all of my forearm in his mouth,” McCulley said.
The man asked if McCulley needed any help and commented that it was the first time that the dog had done that. He told the couple that he thought he was OK, but asked that they follow him home to make sure that he made it.
McCulley thought they agreed, but when he turned around they were gone.
He said he was concerned at first about the bite because of how much blood there was, but when he got home he realized the wound was not that bad.
“My arm’s healing fine,” McCulley said Wednesday.
His concern now is whether he needs to undergo rabies shots.
“I’m sure that they’re scared to come forward, I’m not suing or anything,” McCulley said. “At the end of the day, I’m more worried – I just want to find them and the dogs.”
McCulley has until Monday afternoon to confirm whether he needs the shots or not, which are time intensive and expensive. The series of shots are done over a 30-day period, and McCulley estimated that the cost is about $2,900.
“The misery of doing rabies is no fun,” he said.
McCulley has walked the neighborhood, knocked on doors and handed out pamphlets to no avail in an effort to locate and talk to the dogs’ owners. He said one of his concerns is that the couple was visiting for Thanksgiving.
He described the dogs as medium to medium-large – the head of the dog that bit him came up to McCulley’s waist. Though he did not know the breed of the dogs, he said they looked like boxers, but with more slender heads.
Both of the dogs were brown, with maybe some white on their bellies.
He said the couple was younger, perhaps in their 20s to early 30s. The woman had long dark hair, and the man also had dark hair, McCulley said.
The couple, or anyone with information on the dogs, is asked to contact McCulley at home as 549-1211, on either his cell phone at (309) 259-0010 or (319) 572-2801 or by e-mail at mmcculley@m2p2.com before Monday.