Tugaloo Animal Hospital Offers $5 Rabies Shots for World Rabies Day

World Rabies Day is coming up on Saturday and two animal hospitals in Franklin County will be offering low-cost rabies vaccines for pets.

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Tugaloo Animal Hospital will be offering $5 rabies vaccines at their clinic at the corner of SR59 and Vickery St. in Lavonia.

Dr. April Steele has been offering the $5 rabies shots for the past six years on World Rabies Day.  

Sponsored by the Global Alliance for Rabies, World Rabies Day is an opportunity for people around the world to unite in rabies prevention by holding various rabies awareness events.  http://rabiesalliance.org/world-rabies-day/ .

Steele said one reason for offering the shots this week is because of the low turnout she saw during spring rabies clinics six years ago, but the main reason is simple: rabies is a dangerous disease to pets and humans.

 “It is basically incurable in both and we can’t diagnose it except by a brain biopsy,” Steele said. “So, we decided to participate with World Rabies Days by offering low-cost rabies vaccines in the fall.”

Steele said her clinic will be giving rabies shots to pets for three days this week.

 “We will be doing $5 rabies vaccines on dogs and cats Thursday and Friday from 9a to 5p with no appointment needed,” Steele said. “On Saturday we will offer them from 9a until noon.”

Tugaloo Animal Hospital will also have a boot at Saturday’s fall festival in Lavonia but not will be giving shots there.

And for those living in the southern part of Franklin County, Royston Animal Hospital on U.S. 29 in Franklin Springs will also be offering $5 rabies vaccines on Saturday only from 8a to noon.

You do not have to live in Franklin County to have your pets vaccinated against rabies.

Rabies has been a particularly bad problem this year in Franklin County.   According to Environmental Health Director Louis Korff, he’s had an unusually high number of reported cases.

 “I’ve sent in, just this year, a dozen samples; half of which have come back positive,” Korff said. “We also had one human exposure this year.”

In that case, the woman was bitten by a stray cat that turned out to be rabid.  The Carnesville woman, who has not been identified,  has recovered after undergoing a series of post-exposure vaccines at Ty Cobb Regional Medical Center in Lavonia.

 Korff said this year he has had to have four cats and two dogs euthanized because they were bitten by rabid wildlife and did not have a current rabies vaccine.