Westchester County residents can bring their dogs, cats and ferrets in for free rabies vaccinations on Sunday, April 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Stamen Animal Hospital, 61 Quaker Ridge Road in New Rochelle.  Appointments are required. Call 632-1269 for more information.

An adult must supervise all pets. Stamen Hospital staff will come outside to bring your pet into the animal hospital. Cats and ferrets must be in carriers and dogs must be on a leash.  Aggressive dogs must be muzzled.  No examinations will be given.

Under New York State law, dogs and cats must receive their first rabies vaccine no later than four months after birth.  A second rabies shot must be given within one year of the first vaccine, with additional booster shots given every one or three years after that, depending on the vaccine used.  Owners who fail to get their pets vaccinated and keep their vaccinations up-to-date may be fined up to $2,000.

Rabies is a fatal disease that spreads through the bite or saliva of infected animals.  Those animals most commonly infected are raccoons, skunks, bats and foxes.  However, domestic animals such as cats and dogs are also at risk because they can easily contract rabies from wild
or stray animals.

A pet that is up-to-date with its rabies vaccinations would only need a booster dose of vaccine within five days of the pet’s exposure to a known or suspect rabid animal.  Animals not up to date with rabies vaccinations would be quarantined or euthanized following contact with a rabid or suspect-rabid animal.

A change in an animal’s behavior is often the first sign of rabies.  A rabid animal may become either abnormally aggressive or unusually tame. It may lose fear of people and become docile, or become excited and irritable.  Infected animals sometimes stagger, spit and froth at the mouth.  Children should be discouraged from touching unfamiliar animals, and to tell an adult right away if they have been bitten
or scratched by an animal.

All animal bites or contact with animals suspected of having rabies must be reported to the Westchester County Health Department at 813-5000.  After hours, callers should follow instructions in the recorded message for reporting public health emergencies 24 hours a day.
To learn more about rabies and its prevention, visit the Health Department’s website at www.westchestergov.com/health.
(Submitted)