A poor Darwin pooch has caught COVID-19 from its owner.
And the diagnosis was made by none other than colourful Northern Territory Senator Sam McMahon, who is a qualified vet.
The Senator made the announcement after she conducted two telehealth consultations with the three-year-old cross-breed, which had developed “a loud cough” after its owner tested positive for the virus.
“They called me because their dog – which is young, healthy and fully vaccinated with routine canine vaccinations – was suddenly coughing,” Senator McMahon said.
The hound returned a positive rapid antigen test on February 9.
The Senator reckoned that the owner had performed the test correctly and it was highly likely to be right, so I’m with her.
But The Boss is his usual sceptical self and tells me there is a whole heap of stuff up a dog’s nose – as in, he wouldn’t want to go there – that would complicate detecting the virus.
Besides, he says, the Senator has been in the middle of “contested versions of events” before. Back in June last year she was encouraged to leave Senate during the evening hearing after colleagues noticed she appeared to be disoriented, struggling to walk, barely awake and battling to sit upright in her seat.
This was about the time she gave key support to Barnaby Joyce in his ousting of Michael McCormack as Nationals leader, so The Boss thinks she might have been celebrating.
While she didn’t miss any votes, a number of senators said she had to be propped up in her chair on occasions and they worried she might take a fall when crossing the floor to vote.
Senators on the Labor side were less charitable, saying she appeared “trolleyed”, “off her head”, “embarrassing” and “maggoted”.
But the senator denied she had been affected by alcohol, claiming she had only one glass of wine with dinner and had become distressed after receiving sad personal news.
So The Boss isn’t convinced the senator’s two telehealth consultations with a cross-breed are evidence that transmission between people and dogs is possible, although clearly he is saying that to calm me down.
He says there is no vaccine for me if I do get it – but the RSPCA says there is no need for one, given pets appear to exhibit only mild symptoms.
Veterinary microbiologist Professor Glenn Browning says there may be particular dogs and pets that are susceptible to infection but it isn’t something to be particularly concerned about.
“People are the danger to their pets rather than pets being the danger to their owners,” he says. My case rests. Woof!
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