Animal Welfare Professionals

Hello everyone! 

I am very proactive with people and their pets, making sure that they are having their pets updated or vaccinated for the first time, against Rabies. It truly is shocking how many pet owners are not responsible about this, especially when we live in a more rural part of the US. We actually had a recent confirmed positive in a town that is about 4 hours away, in a bat with no instance or injury. 
I take it very seriously and I know a lot of people feel the same way, my only option is to continually make contact with owners to let them know the ramifications of their inactions. Usually mentioning the words "10 day hold with the local vet at your cost" is enough to do it, but what are your preferred methods to achieve close to 100% on your vaccination rates? Granted, I am in a smaller town of under 1,000 ... But, Rabies is fatal as well as preventable, and we definitely don't need anyone being exposed to it.
Tips? Success stories? What is the most effective way for Rabies compliance? 

#FieldServicesandPublicSafety*

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Kyla Cotant
Code Enforcement Officer
Village of Hemingford
NE
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In my opinion, the most effective method for rabies compliance is convincing the adopter to establish a vet at the time of adoption. Shelters and rescues can ask questions about what vet they plan on using. If they don't know, we can tell them what options they have. Explaining the importance can also help. Some people don't realize that if they ever want to use services of just about any kind often including disaster relief, they will need their dog to have a rabies vaccine. Talking about resources such as low-cost vaccine clinics at the time of adoption can help raise awareness of available services as well.

Just thinking off the top of my head, rural areas tend to have dog breeding for a lot of different reasons, such as hunting dogs. Schools often put on hunter's safety courses for kids to get permits to hunt. Their parents or guardian have to be there with them. Maybe try to talk to the schools and hunter's safety instructors about incorporating rabies vaccines into their course to protect the community. Hunting dogs are at a high risk of getting rabies from a racoons or other wildlife. I hope this helps.

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Drew Domalick
Volunteer - Adoption Center Volunteer Trainer and Animal Care Specialist
Happily Ever After Animal Sanctuary
WI
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