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The Tompkins County Health Department is looking for public assistance in locating a dog that bit a person on Friday, December 2nd, at the Ithaca Dog Park, near Treman State Park in Ithaca. The department is looking to rule out a rabies infection from the dog.
The dog has been described as a white and brown pit bull or a pit bull mix named Benji. The dog was not on a leash when the biting occurred near the gate of the dog park. Owners of Benji have been described as a male and female couple, with the women presenting Asian descent. She is described as having short-medium length black hair.
The Tompkins County Health Department is looking to verify the vaccination status of the dog and health status through a 10-day at home observation. If the dog can be proven healthy, a risk of rabies infection will then be ruled out and a rabies post-exposure treatment will not be needed for the victim.
Anyone with information regarding this dog is urged to call the Tompkins County Environmental Health Division at (607) 274-6688. Staff are on-call at this number to field calls related to rabies and bites, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
