The Tompkins County Health Department says they’re looking for a dog that bit a person on Wednesday on West Seneca Street in Ithaca to make sure the dog doesn’t have a rabies infection. The incident occurred about 6:30pm on October 5 in front of 325 West Seneca Street.

The dog is described as “a female, black and brown, rottweiler puppy, around 4 months old. The puppy had become frightened and was hiding under a car,” according to the Health Department. “The owner of the dog is described as a thin, black man, in his 20s, possibly with the first name of Brandon. The person was bitten when they grabbed the dog’s collar to help get the puppy out from under the car.”

The Tompkins County Health Department have said that they need “to verify vaccination status and health of the biting dog through a ten day observation period. If the dog can be located and observed to be healthy by the Department, the risk of rabies infection can be ruled out.”

If health officials can’t rule out the possibility that the dog has rabies, the person who was bitten may have to undergo a series of rabies treatments that include painful injections.

Anyone with information about the dog is asked to call the Tompkins County Environmental Health Division at 607-274-6688.

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