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Holistic wellness and natural health for dogs and cats. » Group Forum

your pets and killer bees {keep your fur-babies SAFE!}

  
Riley-Otis

Im an Angel sent- from heaven!		 
 
Purred: Fri Jun 11, '10 11:55pm PST 
Sun Jun 6, 2010 8:18 am (PDT)
ref. Southern half US: Killer bees

I am posting this off-topic message to warn as many people as possible of
a danger that may be lurking in your own backyards (or as in my case, your
neighbor's back yard). I lost five of my family members the end of May, a
lab-x and four pureblood standard poodles, when they were attacked by killer
bees in my backyard. Two of them were rescues, the other three I raised
from day one. Rosie, was my freestyle partner. One of my girls, Pinky, fought
hard to survive, but the shock and toxins from the bees was more than she
could handle and my sweet girl died six days later. They were my family and
carried a special place in my heart. There is a huge hole there now.

But, sadly, I am not alone in my pain. Within days, Teri Carpenter's four
Rottweilers were attacked in her backyard in Phoenix, Arizona. Only one
survived, but she has a long road to recovery ahead of her. Ms Carpenter is
also active in rescue work and was clueless, as was I, to this danger.

I can never have my girls back again. All I can do is to try and make
something good come out of this horrific nightmare. My mission is to get the
word out to as many people as possible, and hopefully save someone else from
suffering such a senseless loss of their beloved pet . . . or worse yet,
their child. Attacks are not limited to dogs. There has been a sharp increase
in attacks this year, including attacks on people and horses. See:

_http://www.stingshi http://www. sthtt_ (http://www.stingshi eld.com/news. htm)

No one in the southern half of the US is safe from this threat. There are
reports of attacks by killer bees as far north as Idaho, Utah, and
Virginia. If anyone would like to put these on their websites or facebook pages to
warn people of the danger these bees pose, here are news articles regarding
the attack on my girls:

San Antonio Express News:
_http://www.mysananthttp//wwhttp://www.http://wwwhttp://www.m http://wwwhttp
://wwwhttp://www. myshttp_
(http://www.mysanant onio.com/ news/local_ news/5_of_ womans_dogs_ die_after_ attack_by_ bees_95201599. html)
FOX Channel 29 News:
_http://www.foxsananhttp//wwwhttp://wwhttp://www.fhttp://www. http://www.htt
p://www.f_
(http://www.foxsanan tonio.com/ newsroom/ top_stories/ videos/vid_ 2293.shtml? sms_ss=email)

Pinkys death was on the list of TOP stories at Fox:
_http://www.foxsananhttp//wwwhttp://wwhttp://www.fhttp://www.h ttp://www_
(http://www.foxsanantonio.com/newsroom/top_stories/video s/vid_2309.shtml)

KENS Channel 5 News:

_http://www.kens5. http://wwhttp: //www.kens5http: //www.khttp: //www.http: //wwh
ttp://www.http: //www.kenshttp_
(http://www.kens5. com/news/ local/4-poodles- die-another- dog-fights- for-life- after-bees- swarm-95067109. html)

Here is the most recent story in the Examiner regarding both attacks:

_http://www.examiner http://www. ehttp://wwhttp: //wwhttp: //wwwhttp: //www.ehttp
://wwhttp://www. exhttp:// www.examihttp: //www.exhttp: //www.ehttp: //www.http: /
/wwwhttp://www. e_
(http://www.examiner.com/x-2111-Dog-News-Examiner~y2010m6d5-Kill er-bees-continue-deadly-march-across-Southern-States--more-dogs-kill ed
-in-attacks? cid=email- this-article)

Please pass this message on to all your friends and groups and post it to
your websites and facebook pages, etc. Please, protect your children and
animals! Help get the word out about the danger posed by these bees . . .
remind property owners you know to be aware of bee activity on their property,
and to have all hives removed by experts. We need to get the word out to
as many people as possible and hopefully avoid any future tragedies.
Knowledge is our first line of defense.

Thank you all for your support.
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Luna

If it is out- there I will- find it		 
 
Purred: Fri Aug 20, '10 10:14pm PST 
My service dog and I recently attended the Psychiatric Service Dog Society (PSDS) Gathering held at Camp Colorado, in a remote area of the Pike National Forest. While sitting outdoors on a deck adjacent to the dining hall participating in a group session I was stung by an insect and immediately began experiencing an allergic reaction. I tried to remain calm-- the session was addressing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) BOL. My service dog is beyond amazing. She smelled my hand and licked it and then pulled on her leash as she began to search. Literally within seconds she pointed out a hole in the foundation of the dining hall to our right where bees were entering and exiting! I did not want to create a panic but when the director of the PSDS joined us and sat right next to the bee nest I alerted her. I showed her the swelling on my hand and told her I had been stung and she barely acknowledged me. Fortunately for me my husband was there and when I began to get dizzy and the swelling on my had began to increase and become hot to the touch he escorted me away and into the dining hall to seek first aid. Inside I asked for first aid. By now I was beginning to panic and the dizziness increased. When we registered for this event the intake form specifically asked if we were allergic to anything such as "bee stings" and my answer was that it was difficult to know as people can develop immune responses to bee stings if stung repeatedly over time. I also noted that I was allergic to the red dye in Benedryl. They told me the Camp first aid kit was locked!(that we were assured was there would be a first aid kit on the PSDS website)This event was targeted at veterans with PTSD which is exactly what I am. To say I began to panic when they told me the first aid kit was locked really triggered my symptoms. I was desparate to get the help I needed. I remembered that I had arranged for free loaner Motorola Talk About Radios for the director and asked one of the people in the dining room to go find someone with a radio and ask on the net whether anyone had any dye free Benedryl. At this point my husband was becoming alarmed. Fortunately my idea to use the radios to ask for help resulted in someone coming forth with 1/2 a bottle of the much needed dye free Benedryl. It was enough for my first dose. I was chided by the event staff the person who gave it to me needed it for her own allergies. My husband sat with me until I settled down and watched as the Benedryl had its intended quick effect. Seeing I was stablized, but realizing that I would need more doses in the coming hours and that the other person might need some more as well he decided to drive down the mountain to the nearest town and get a re-supply. The funny thing was he even agreed to get some Maxi Pads which were in short supply (he is such a great guy!).

I have no idea what kind of bees these were. I did not want to get close enough to find out. I mentioned to others of the danger but found it very discomforting that no one took any steps to get rid of the bees. To me this seemed very irresponsible considering all of the dogs at this event and how important they are to their handlers. I have never seen honey bees building underground nests. I do know that yellow jackets (hornets) will build this type of nest and that they, just like killer bees, can become VERY aggressive if their nest is threatened.

Thank you for your posting your story, warning others and sharing your sad loss with us about the dangers of bees and the threat they pose to our dogs.
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Luna

If it is out- there I will- find it		 
 
Purred: Tue Aug 24, '10 5:40pm PST 
It has been 2 weeks since the bee incident that took place while my service dog Luna and I attended the Psychiatric Service Dog Gathering here in Colorado. Over the past couple days I discussed the incident with my husband who happened to be registered for the event and was with me when I began to have such a serious reaction to the sting. He told me about things that happened while I was having the reaction that I do not even remember. I told him things he was not thinking clearly about either since he has anxiety issues of his own and was very distressed over what he saw happening to me. This made me realize just how much in crisis both of us were in at the time. As a lesson learned it is important for everyone to realize that no matter where you are out there in life there might or might not be trained and prepared people to assist you or an emergency plan in place and you never know who will come through in a crisis. I witnessed once again that most people tend to freeze in a crisis and that even if warned of danger most people tend to ignore the warnings. I learned that in order to get help you have to ask for it and sometimes even shout and scream for it. I learned I need a medical alert thingie to wear just in case I go down and cannot speak up for myself and to train my service dog to find it and point it out to people who come to my aid. So back to the bees and our dogs...it pays to be prepared. I for one am going to re-vamp my dog's first aid kit as well as my own. One set for the house. One set for the car. One set for travelling. Best to be prepared for anything out there.
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Riley-Otis

Im an Angel sent- from heaven!		 
 
Purred: Thu Oct 14, '10 8:48am PST 
Thank you for sharing your story.
It could have turned out very badly and I am glad for you that you got the help you needed.
Chiding was definitely uncalled for!
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