Tugaloo Animal Hospital to Offer $5 Rabies Vaccine for World Rabies Day

As she does every year, Dr. April Steele, owner of Tugaloo Animal Hospital in Lavonia will be taking part in the World Rabies Day event by offering low-cost rabies vaccines all this week.

Dr. Steele said pet owners need to have their pets vaccinated against rabies every year.

“Our rabies clinic is running from Monday through Saturday with half-price vaccines, which makes them $5,” she said. “It’s important to remember that just because your pet has been vaccinated once, it doesn’t mean it’s protected forever. All rabies vaccines need to be boosted every year.”

According to their Web site, World Rabies Day is the first and only global day of action and awareness for rabies prevention.

It is an opportunity to unite as a community and for individuals and governments to connect and share their work.

September 28th 2019 will be the 13th World Rabies Day, and this year’s theme focuses on vaccination, the foundation of all rabies control efforts.

Speaking to that theme, Dr. Steele dispels the myth that indoor pets are safe from contracting rabies.

“All pets need to be vaccinated, not just your outside pets,” Steele said. “Most people get in trouble because they say, ‘Oh I have an inside cat,’ or ‘I have an inside dog.’ And what people fail to remember is that rabid animals don’t act normally. They come towards pets that they would normally leave alone. They try to come in your house so your indoor cat or dog could be exposed and you could be too.”

Recently, our area has seen three confirmed cases of rabies in foxes.  In one of those cases reported in Hart County, a woman was bitten by a rabid fox.

In another case in Franklin County, a rabid fox actually entered a man’s house, according to Franklin County Environmental Health Director Louis Korff.

The man was not bitten and had no pets, but those who are bitten by rabid animals must undergo a series of expensive, post-rabies exposure shots, because rabies is always fatal if those shots are not given in time.

Dr. Steele reminds horse and cattle owners that they are also at risk for rabies and veterinarians in our area will be happy to come out and vaccinate your livestock at the regular price.

Again, the low-cost rabies vaccines at Tugaloo Animal Hospital are available all this week during normal business hours this week through Saturday morning for $5, cash only.

The hospital is closed on Wednesdays.

For more information, you can contact Tugaloo Animal Hospital at 706-356-1467.