For most of the 19th century, rabies was almost certainly a death sentence. Sensational media headlines stoked a fear-driven public into a panic about the ever-looming threat of “mad dogs.” At the same time, similar tactics were employed to keep the public fearful of and hateful toward Black Americans, who were also considered animalistic and dangerous to society. This presentation will interrogate some of the ways that the presence of Black Americans has been treated as a threat to the wellness of the public in the past and present, and how dehumanization has been a central strategy for that purpose.