RIP, Excalibur

[B2G]

Ebola dog dead: Spanish social media users grieve as nurse's pet is put down

ROSE TROUP BUCHANAN
Wednesday 08 October 2014

Spanish authorities have put down the dog belonging to the Spanish nurse infected with Ebola, prompting an online outpouring of grief.

Excalibur was put down at 2.30pm today at the Veterinary Hospital of the Complutense University of Madrid, Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported.

Health authorities acted after Teresa Romero Ramos, a nursing assistant who treated two Spanish missionaries before their deaths after returning from Africa with Ebola, also contracted the often fatal disease.

Her husband Javier Limon, who has been placed in quarantine, contacted local media to object to the decision by Madrid's department of health to destroy the dog.




http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ebola-dog-dead-spanish-social-media-users-grieve-as-nurses-pet-is-put-down-9782748.html

[Gothmog]

1. This did not need to happen

I feel bad for that poor dog

[get the red out]

2. If I was that nurse

I would break out of quarantine and go on a fucking kissing spree, starting with the people who had my dog killed.

[CBGLuthier]

6. Hopefully that nurse is a better person than you

Really what a mean shitty thing to even suggest a human being do. .

[get the red out]

8. Sorry about your luck, I'll suggest what I want

That's exactly what I would want to do. I'm not shitty, I just give more of a damn about pets than most human beings. Just a FACT. Anything you say about me is just a judgement.

Humanity is a worse virus on this planet than Ebola could ever be.

[BlindTiresias]

24. Disgusting

Condemn a bunch of strangers to an agonizing death over a dog?

Misanthropy like yours has no place in any left or progressive movement.

[msanthrope]

25. Hey!!! Not even I would suggest that! nt

[get the red out]

28. We all have our opinions

I don't think we can firmly dictate who can be allowed into progressive land. Besides, look at the environment? That's the human race happily doing that to itself and every living thing on the planet. We've got nothing to boast about as humans.

[BlindTiresias]

31. I think that

Wanting to condemn random members of the common people to an agonizing death because your puppy got euthanized pretty cleanly excludes you from the realm of progressives. I think the consensus will side with me on this.

[get the red out]

32. There is no club

The progressive ideas I believe in are numerous, that isn't something you can get some gang together and take away.

[ecstatic]

34. yeah, the ideas are numerous, but one uniform principle

that all of us share is compassion and concern for the wellbeing of others (though we sometimes hate the people standing in the way of progress). That's the whole point of being progressive. Have you considered the possibility that maybe your views are more libertarian?

[get the red out]

42. I have and they are decidedly NOT

I fully support helping others, I want a firm, unshakable safety net, I want free education, I don't want the US to police the world, I want war money used for our infrastructure. I really like the idea of single-payer healthcare. I want to lift the people of our country out of virus-mind into a better consciousness through helping them with our tax dollars rather than wasting money on war. I want money out of politics and massive fines on businesses that take companies overseas. I am quite close to being a Socialist, if I'm not there already.

There ya go! Not at all Libertarian. I don't have to like the most wretched (probably a LOT) of humanity to want humanity to improve. My statement was a rage at humans behaving like a virus killing an innocent dog. I rage over that, and yes, I am caustic and vengeful. But I want better, I don't want most of humanity to remain a virus on this planet. I would be quite vengeful if I were the couple whose dog was killed and I applaud the higher consciousness of the people of Spain who protested the poor animal's killing.

Think what you want of me; I know who I am.

[Trajan]

52. As someone who would deal out death in revenge ...

I frankly don't care what lame ass rationale you possess ... Your 'liberalism' is highly questionable ...

[get the red out]

59. Question what you like

I fully respect your freedom of speech.

[magical thyme]

44. GTRO didn't condemn strangers to an agonizing death. She condemned the hypothetical killers

of her dog.

Big difference there.

No difference in my mind then condemning the hypothetical killers of my hypothetical child.

[BlindTiresias]

74. She said "kissing spree"

Including but not limited to the killers of her dog. That implies harming people who have nothing to do with it.

[magical thyme]

43. just last Monday, I told a co-worker that if I were facing quarantine for potential exposure

the first thing I would do is find homes for all my animals, so if I turned up symptomatic they would be safe.



Fuck those idiots that killed Excalibur.

And why, since they were intent on killing, did they not at least do it in the safety and peace of his home? Humanely euthanised, my ass. He must have been terrified to be dragged away from his home by strangers in strange coverings.

[get the red out]

45. Yes

Thank you for a kind response to me, magical thyme, my heart broke for Excalibur. I didn't know they didn't even do it in his home, with his other human with him, now my heart breaks more.

Once again, thank you for not treating me as if I were Satan incarnate for my love of pets.

[magical thyme]

46. I don't know that they didn't, except that they had to beat protesters off with batons

to get him to their van. Presumably if they were carrying his body in a body bag, they wouldn't have had to do that.

Hundreds of protesters tried to physically intervene.

[get the red out]

47. I loved the protesters

They are the kind of people we need more of in the world. I respect what they did more than I can express. His little body in a bag.............................

Now I am terrified of Ebola, if it will cause a demand that our pets be killed. The people of this country are too complacent to oppose much.

[magical thyme]

48. agreed. not only would many not oppose, many would kill them now, just in case.

just look at various posters on DU.

[get the red out]

60. Absolutely correct!!!!!

That proves to me I have reason to fear, not Ebola as much as people's reactions to it and what a threat that might pose.

At least this thread prompted me to use the "block" feature. I had absolutely no one blocked until this morning. I was neglecting an available DU asset.

[magical thyme]

63. I cleaned out my ignore list with the new year, and then almost immediately started re-filling it

with new criteria. It's been growing rapidly lately.

It's no longer about people who get nutty with me. If someone is excessively snarky or mean-spirited toward anybody, I don't care who, onto ignore they go. If they post stupid pictures of 'crying blond girl' or other stupid photoshops in lieu of intelligent discourse, onto ignore they go.

I wring my hands over the dog-haters. On the one hand, feel the need to engage in order to counter their made up factoids with information to protect the uninformed from their bigotry. On the other hand, would prefer to just eliminate them from my life.

[get the red out]

64. My passion gets me in trouble

I am quite passionate when it comes to feminism and pets, especially dogs. I can't abide misogyny and I can't abide those who put no value on the lives of pet animals. People can agree or not, but those are personal values and I refuse to change them, which pisses people off to no end, especially if I post what I REALLY feel.

I am going to have to remember to make much more use of "block".

[magical thyme]

71. ok, it turns out they did euthanise him in the apartment

but his human was not there because they had already taken him away to quarantine.

Apparently when his people were taken away to be quarantined, they left him alone in the apartment with a bathtub full of water and 30 pounds of dogfood, with access to the little terrace he's been photographed on.

The authorities didn't want to leave him there alone for 21 days, and were unwilling to take him away alive to a quarantine facility.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-10-08/mourning-excalibur-the-ebola-dog

[Rhinodawg]

3. That really sucks.

[shenmue]

4. Poor feller

[jen63]

5. I feel so bad.

This was ridiculous and totally unnecessary. It sounds to me like they didn't even test the dog. Dumb asses, if the dog was a carrier and wasn't sick, virologists could have studied him to find out if there was something about him that would help humans with this disease. So depressing. Spain is on my shit list.

[LisaL]

50. Exactly. Stupid is as stupid does.

They could have at the very least tested the dog while keeping the dog in isolation. To see if the dog actually had the virus.
It was cruel and completely unnecessary to kill the dog.

[jen63]

51. Yep, I agree.

They quarantine dogs to make sure they don't have rabies, even if you show proof from the vet that it's up to date on it's shots. Thats a 10 day quarantine. A few days longer for Excaliber would have been feasible. They could have isolated him in the rabies unit for the incubation period. Poor animal. The Spanish government apparently ignored the petition with hundreds of thousands signatures on it from around the world.

I'm also sure that there were probably many people willing to foster the dog through the incubation period and until his owner got well. Makes me sick to think about it, truly.

[LisaL]

54. Exactly. And rabies virus is nearly 100 % fatal.

They couldn't quarantine the poor dog and test it to see if killing the dog was necessary?
His owner (the nurse) might not get well.
They didn't treat her for a week (they didn't test her for Ebola), and now she is in very poor shape.

[jen63]

56. With all the media coverage,

once the quarantine period had ended, there would be people crawling out of the wood work to adopt that precious dog. There was absolutely no reason to euthanize him. Totally unconscionable in my opinion. May they rot in hell.

[LisaL]

58. No reason whatsoever.

Like nurses's husband said, he himself is possibly infected, are they going to euthanize him next?

[jen63]

62. It's a dog people,

perspective; is what the poster below said. Sickening. They are helpless and depend on humans to take care of and love them. That's all they want. There are many sentient animals among us, I just can't handle animal cruelty. Like the saying goes, "the way you treat animals is how you treat people." I can't bear to imagine how the people who are associated with people who have no regard or empathy for an animal are treated at home.

[get the red out]

65. Thank you

[jen63]

73. You're welcome!

Animals are my weakness. They depend on us and when we betray them like many do, the word sociopath comes to mind. Thank you for caring.

[SammyWinstonJack]

77. !!!

[notrightatall]

7. It was a dog, people.

fer f*ck sake. Perspective!!!!!!

[get the red out]

9. Yea, we shouldn't give a damn

And we are bad people if we do.

I hate fucking, no-good humans. Scourge of the planet. WE are the virus, much worse than Ebola.

[notrightatall]

10. perspective. a valuable tool.

[get the red out]

11. I've got perspective

I just don't give a fuck about yours, that's all.

[notrightatall]

12. Dog Eating

[get the red out]

13. Cute Labradore

Labs are cool dogs.

[notrightatall]

16. It's "labrador" and it's(some say) tasty, but no "e".

[get the red out]

17. Sorry for my horrific sin

I respectfully go to hell where you can feel superior to me in your heavenly palace oh Godly one


Personally though, anyone who would eat a dog shouldn't be breathing air. IMO. And anyone who would support eating a dog is a total piece of shit, beneath contempt of civilized people, and a SOB of the highest order, whether they can spell or not.

[notrightatall]

18. Okay, this time. But only because you have bowed down to my greatness.

[get the red out]

19. Was that your lunch

Did you eat the suit?

[notrightatall]

20. No, but I have this great recipe, if you're interested.

[get the red out]

21. Well at LEAST

Her family hits the cutting board too.

[notrightatall]

22. Meat is meat.

[TDale313]

26. Just knock this crap off.

Dogs and cats are companion animals, especially in the west.It is generally considered impolite to kill and eat your friends.

[notrightatall]

27. I will pick my own "friends", thank you.

[Lancero]

35. Gotta ask, what do you think of the people who eat dog meat...

Because it is apart of their culture? More specifically, what do you think of such culture?

[get the red out]

36. I despise such cultures

And I don't care what you think about it. I will be honest no matter if you think I am a fool. I will keep my opinions and not run scared. I live liberal in a conservative state, what can liberals I disagree with say to me I haven't hear already? Everyone has a right to their opinions and no disregard of mine will change mine. This is one of those times that I see liberals requiring lock step the same as conservatives.

[notrightatall]

57. Whatever, meat is in the eyes of the eater.

[Marrah_G]

69. I don't think anything of them really

I would not eat dog. To me, dogs are companions. I also understand that what are considered pets and what are considered food varies in different parts of the world.

[11 Bravo]

14. I'm guessing that your copy of "How to Win Friends and Influence People" ...

got lost in the mail. I'll even go farther out on a limb with my supposition that Will Rogers never met you.

[get the red out]

15. I certainly hope it got lost in the mail

I'm not an ass kisser enough for that book, don't give a darn about Will Rogers, that was my Grandpa's time.

I don't much care to be a lying phony, to be honest.

[Art_from_Ark]

38. I know where that picture was taken

I immediately recognized it as one of the local attractions-- the Ushiku Daibutsu statue, near Narita (Tokyo) International Airport

http://attrip.jp/75173/

[liberal_at_heart]

68. umm maybe you should inform yourself about Buddha before using his image. Buddha cared about all

sentient beings and yes that includes dogs.

[notrightatall]

72. Yawn.

[linuxman]

37. Feel free to leave whenever.

[get the red out]

41. I rubber neck wrecks

[snooper2]

29. You want perspective, wait for the upcoming report by VICE! Dining on Dogs

"When I asked him if he was going to eat dog today, he was like- YEP!"



VICE

[MoonRiver]

23. So tragic and stupid!

Did not need to happen! RIP precious doggie.

[Electric Monk]

30. TIME has an article out today: Can Dogs (And Other Animals) Get Ebola?

http://time.com/3480961/ebola-animals-transmission/

(snip)

To date, there is no documented case of Ebola spreading to people from dogs or dogs to people, and only one study, carried out by the CDC, looks at whether dogs can get Ebola at all. This research into the prevalence of Ebola-virus antibodies in dogs from regions of Gabon affected by the 2001–2002 outbreak showed that “dogs can be infected by Ebola virus” but exhibit no symptoms and the infection eventually clears.

The researchers concluded that “dogs could be a potential source of human Ebola outbreaks and of virus spread during human outbreaks,” but they did not test their hypothesis that human infection could occur through licking, biting or grooming. Instead, the study assumed dogs would transmit the infection in the same way as other animals observed in experiments; those animals excreted viral particles (in saliva, urine, feces) for a short period before the virus was cleared. David Moore, an expert in infectious diseases from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said that since no dogs showed symptoms of the Ebola virus “there is absolutely no evidence to support a role for dogs in transmission.”

The study also suggests that differences in behavior and diet of pet dogs may alter risks in Ebola transmission. Whereas most dogs in Western Europe are fed dog food, many of the dogs studied in Gabon scavenged for their food, eating small dead animals that could have exposed them to the virus.

[get the red out]

33. Doesn't matter

Those too liberally superior to care about pets will use anything to beat dog lovers over the head with on message boards.

[AngryOldDem]

39. I think this is only the beginning.

Ebola will be a hugely destabilizing political force as people will demand action and governments react. Look at the protests in Spain, not only about the dog, but how officials handled this woman. As Ebola spreads to the "first world," I look for more of the same, and worse.

There was NO reason at all for this dog to be put down, other than officials trying to look like they were doing something. To my knowledge there is NO evidence of dogs transmitting the disease. And if it was that much of a concern, he could have easily been quarantined and monitored for 21 days.

But a dog is dead and the anger and fear are growing.

[get the red out]

40. I agree

Even though it is an unpopular opinion.

[LisaL]

49. That nurse tried to get treatement out of them for week before they finally

tested her for Ebola.
And now they killed her dog.

[AngryOldDem]

78. There is another thread here asking if ebola could be used by terrorists.

Obviously, no (at least I don't think so) because of its nature. But that said, I think the real worry people should have is how well authorities will follow protocol in dealing with Ebola, both as it concerns actual and suspected cases.

I think this will expose just how not ready a lot of governments and institutions are to deal with a crisis.

And the bottom line with the Texas patient? He was turned away because he had no insurance? Why am I not surprised?

I hope the nurse pulls through but last I heard she was deteriorating.

[dembotoz]

53. Poor dog, but there are real PEOPLE dying out there

i love doggies but a bit of perspective please....

[LisaL]

55. The dog was killed on purpose.

As far as I know, they don't euthanize potentially infected contacts.

[joeybee12]

61. No reason to have done this...fucking Spanish "authorities" nt

[get the red out]

66. I'm starting to worry about our "authorities"

What kind of steps will be taken here when Ebola comes to call?

[joeybee12]

70. There's no evidence it can be passed dog-human, vice-versa...

It's called panicking.

[Marrah_G]

67. I feel badly for the family

But I understand why the dog was put down. Dogs can have ebola without showing symptoms and may be able to transfer it to humans.

[LisaL]

75. There is no evidence that dogs can transmit virus to humans.

Furthermore, this particular dog was not even tested to see if it was infected.
It's a complete over-reaction.
They didn't test the woman for Ebola for a week, resulting in her now being on ventilator apparently near death.
Then they killed her dog, without testing him at all.

[magical thyme]

76. agreed. furthermore, the evidence is that they clear it from their system

so they are not sickened by it, but they do get rid of it.

Excalibur could have been quarantined, tested and ultimately cleared.

Well, it's looking like she's not going to make it, intubated, on a vent with multiple organ failure, so if she doesn't, at least Excaliber will be waiting for her over the bridge.

[AngryOldDem]

79. This is bullshit and hysteria we don't need.

Christ, even dogs suspected of rabies (and those that attack) are quarantined for three weeks.

That's all we need -- people going off half-cocked looking for quick fixes to stuff they don't fully understand. Dark Ages redux.