Alert: EH Seeks Information About a Dog Bite on S. Albany St. (Ithaca)

Tompkins County Whole Health’s Environmental Health Division (EH) must locate a dog that bit a person yesterday, Monday, March 16, 2026, around 6:40 PM, on South Albany Street, Ithaca, heading towards West Clinton Street. 

The dog is described as a medium sized, estimated at between 30 - 40 pounds, beige with short hair, and appeared to have short legs. Due to the rainy weather and it being dark outside, the bit person was unable to provide any more details about the dog and does not have any distinguishing features about the dog owner. The person was bit while walking their own dog, and they passed on the sidewalk while going in opposite directions.  

The person who was bit did not realize the extent of the injury sustained by the bite, so contact information was not exchanged.  

EH seeks to monitor the health of the biting dog through an at home observation over a ten-day period. If the dog can be located and observed to be healthy by EH, the risk of rabies infection can be ruled out and rabies post-exposure treatment for the person who was bitten will not be necessary. 

Anyone with information regarding this dog is urged to call EH at (607) 274-6688. Staff are available at this number to take calls related to rabies and bites, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  

We would like to remind the public the importance of reporting bites to EH as soon as possible to determine if rabies post-exposure treatment is needed. It is also important to exchange contact information when a bite occurs. This allows EH the opportunity to contact the owner to verify the health of the animal after a 10-day observation period and rule out the possibility rabies was transmitted from the bite.