Many pet owners obey state law that requires rabies vaccinations for dogs and cats. Other responsible owners extend that protection to other animals such as ferrets and horses, as well. Too many, however, fail to protect their animals against what can be a deadly disease. The public is at risk as a result.
In Hamilton County, for example, a significant number of pet dogs and cats have not been vaccinated. Dr. Jennifer Kolb, president of the Hamilton County Veterinary Medical Association, says recent reports indicate that only 56 percent of the dogs in the county and 20 percent of the cats in the county are vaccinated. Though no cases have been reported so far this year, history strongly suggests that a low rate of vaccination puts an unacceptably high number of pets and pet owning families at risk for rabies.
Pet vaccinations – available at low-cost clinics in the spring or at vets’ offices the year around – are vital to public safety, according to health officials and veterinarians. They preserve what is called a “buffer zone” to protect people from rabies. Vaccination of pets is the first and the best line way to safeguard those who come into contact with pets from the possibility of a rabies infection.
That’s because pets are far more likely than humans to come into contact with typical carriers of rabies – raccoons, bats and foxes. If a family pet is bitten by rabid wildlife – an increasing possibility as the distance between human and wildlife habitation narrows and even merges – it will not contract the disease if it has been vaccinated. If it hasn’t been vaccinated, they’re likely to contract the ailment and to pass it on.
That’s particularly troubling since health care experts say rabies is sometimes difficult to detect in its early stages. Rabid animals in the early stages might not have any overt signs of sickness or the aggression associated with the disease in its later stages. Thus a loving and unwitting pet owner could get the disease from incidental contact – a lick of the hand that touches an open sore or cut – and pass it on.
Rabies is fatal to animals and humans if it is not treated promptly. Fortunately, deaths are far less common than they once were. Treatments, including shots, that are widely available, and physicians and patients say they are not as debilitating as they once were. The regimen is most effective if rabies is confirmed and treated promptly.
The lack of reported cases here so far this year should not lull pet owners into complacency. Rabies remains a threat. Given the surprisingly low rate of vaccinations, it is difficult to say whether many pet owners willfully disobey the law or simply forget to protect their pets. Those who fail to have their animals inoculated should remember that the law requires them to do so. They, their families and their acquaintances would be far safer if they did so.