The Suffolk County Department of Health Services (SCDHS)
and the Brookhaven Animal Shelter will offer free rabies vaccinations* for
dogs, cats and ferrets as follows:
Saturday, June 20, 2015
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Brookhaven Animal Shelter
300 Horseblock Rd, Brookhaven, NY
*Although the clinic is available to all county residents, the quantity
of vaccinations is limited and available only while supplies last. All dogs must be
on leashes and all cats and ferrets must be in carriers.
Rabies, a deadly disease caused by
a virus that attacks the central nervous system, is most often seen among wild
animals such as raccoons, bats, skunks and foxes, but any mammal can be
infected with rabies. Pets and livestock can get rabies if they are not
vaccinated to protect them against infection.
New York
State and Suffolk County law requires that all dogs, cats and ferrets be
vaccinated against rabies. Vaccinating pets not only provides protection for
the animals but also acts as a barrier to keep the rabies virus from spreading
between wild animals and people.
The SCDHS Bureau of Public Health
Protection tests animals that have been reported as acting strangely or have
come into contact with humans. Of the animals tested in 2014, only bats have
tested positive for rabies. Of the 52 bats tested last year, 3 tested positive
for rabies.
Rabies was identified in 19 raccoons
near the Nassau-Suffolk border in the northwestern portion of the Town of
Huntington between 2006 and 2009. The last confirmed case of a rabid raccoon
was in January 2009.
The
Suffolk County Department of Health Services recommends the following precautions
to protect from possible exposure to rabies:
-
Do not feed, touch or adopt
or approach wild animals, stray dogs or cats.
-
Be sure your pet dogs, cats
and ferrets as well as horses and valuable livestock animals are up-to-date on
their rabies vaccinations. Vaccination protects pets if they are exposed to
rabid animals. Pets too young to be vaccinated should be kept indoors and
allowed outside only under direct observation.
-
Keep family pets indoors at
night. Do not leave them outside unattended or let them roam free.
-
Do not attract wild animals
to your home or yard. Keep your property free of stored bird seed or other
foods that may attract wild animals. Feed pets indoors. Tightly cap or put away
garbage cans. Board up any openings to your attic, basement, porch or garage.
Cap your chimney with screens.
-
Do not transport or relocate any wild animals.
-
Teach children not to touch
any animal they do not know and to tell an adult immediately if they are bitten
by any animal.
-
Report all animal bites or
contact with wild animals to the Suffolk County Department of Health Services at (631) 853-0333 weekdays, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. If
possible, do not let any animal that has possibly exposed someone to rabies,
escape.
For more
information on rabies, visit the New York State Department of Health website at
http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/rabies/rabies.htm,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rabies/.
suffolkcountyny.gov
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