It’s been quite a year — missiles, terror, Jew hatred all over the world, extremist attacks against Christians and Muslims in Israel, hantavirus, perpetual and exhausting war, Roger, Greta, Tucker, looming elections, chocolate hummus, apocalypse… It’s A LOT, but I’ve rolled with it… but you know what WASN’T on my bingo card for 2026?

As in Ol’ Yeller and that crazy blonde patient from Scrubs.

There was a confirmed rabies case near my house this week.

Just one poor dog who lived around the corner.

And because I am a calm, rational adult woman living in Israel in 2026, I reacted with the measured restraint for which I am known.

I lost my entire mind.

Within minutes I was sending frantic WhatsApp messages in ALL CAPS.

DID ANYONE SEE THE DOG? WHAT COLOR WAS IT? WHERE EXACTLY WAS IT AT 7:32 A.M. ON TUESDAY? COULD IT HAVE PASSED BY MY HOUSE? COULD IT HAVE LOOKED AT MY HOUSE? COULD IT HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT MY HOUSE?

Soon I was deep in Google.

By midnight I had become an amateur epidemiologist.

By one in the morning I was reading veterinary journals.

By two I was studying transmission pathways.

By three I was examining case studies from countries I have never visited involving animals I have never encountered.

By four I was howling at the moon.

I have never worked this hard on anything I was actually paid to do.

At some point I called the health authorities. I........

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