Evidently, Sept. 8 is not just any other day. It’s World Rabies Day, organized by a coalition of animal-health organizations and public-health professionals to raise awareness and take action on rabies. But it might be more aptly named “War on Rabies Day.” In honor of the event, the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office Animal Services Division is sponsoring a low-cost rabies clinic to help keep pets safe from this virus. According to a slideshow prepared by World Rabies Day organizers that’s featured on the Buncombe County Web site, “rabies kills at least 55,000 people annually, or one person every 10 minutes.”
That frightening statistic is echoed in the slogan for World Rabies Day: “Don’t wait … Vaccinate!” On Saturday, Sept. 8, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Petsmart (150 Bleachery Road, Asheville), pet owners can bring their animals in for a $6 rabies shot, a $15 vaccine combination shot, or, more mysteriously, a $10 microchip.
For more information, contact Buncombe County Animal Services at 253-1195.
— Rebeccca Bowe, contributing editor
first of all – of the 55,000 people who die of rabies a year, virtually none are in the united states. in fact, the canine-specific strain rabies has been eradicated in the U.S. – there was a news article about a report from the cdc today about it. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20639137/
dogs can still get rabies from raccoons and skunks, which is why they need the vaccine, but the chances of an american dying from rabies aquired from a dog is almost zero.
also, what is so mysterious about microchipping your dog? it is easy, smart, affordable and becoming very common. microchipping your pet is harmless and by far the surest way to identify a lost pet. they’ve been around for years and they work. in 2007 how can that be mysterious? only if you have been living in a cave, or are one of those people who don’t spay or neuter your pet, or leave them chained in the yard. people in this region need to be educated about pets, not fed more misleading information from uninformed sources.