UPPER TOWNSHIP – Committeeman Jeff Pierson, in charge of animal control duties for the municipality,would like you to know that Upper Township will hold the first Free Rabies Clinic of the year Jan. 9, 2016. This is open to dogs and cats from any NJ municipality. The clinic will be held at Shore Veterinarians at 73 Hope Corson Road, from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Animal control officers from Shore Animal Control will be present to answer any questions or concerns about rabies. Committeeman Pierson states, “Protecting our residents and pets from rabies is of the utmost importance which is why we are offering this free rabies clinic. We encourage all residents to check their pet’s paperwork to determine if a booster vaccination is needed. We also would like to encourage all residents to license their dogs so if they are lost, they can get a free ride home from our municipal animal control.”
License applications will be available at the rabies clinic and early registration is encouraged. All dogs over seven months of age are required to be licensed in New Jersey. There is a reduced license fee of only $4.00 for dogs that are spayed or neutered. There is an additional $3 for all unaltered animals. Licenses issued on or after March 1 are considered late will have the following late fees imposed in addition to license fee. March 1 to March 31 the late fee will be an additional $6.00. Every month thereafter will be an increase of $1 plus the license fee. Shore Animal Control will be starting their annual census in the spring so residents are urged to license their pets now before the late fees begin. You must show proof of rabies vaccination in order to obtain that license.
Dogs must be on a leash (and cats must be in a carrier) when they are brought to the clinic. Aggressive dogs must be muzzled and controlled by the owner and kept in the car until notified by officials. It is suggested that they arrive towards the end of the clinic if dog aggressive for the safety of residents and pets.
The campaign to keep rabies out of our pet population is succeeding thanks to rabies immunization of dogs, cats and ferrets. Between 1998 and the middle of 2013, there were only seven cases of rabies in dogs reported in New Jersey, the last in 2008.
Ongoing prevention of rabies is an important public health measure. Rabies is a zoonotic disease, one that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Any warm blooded animal can contract, carry and transmit rabies. Almost all human cases of rabies were fatal until 1865, when a vaccine was developed by Louis Pasteur and Emile Roux. Recorded human deaths in the United States have dropped from 100 or more in the early 20th Century to one or two per year. This is because of active campaigns to vaccinate dogs and cats and improved vaccines and treatments for humans. Most human rabies cases are from bat bites, which may go unnoticed and untreated. If you suspect that you or someone in your family has been bitten by a bat, seek medical attention immediately. Modern treatment is relatively painless with few side effects, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which recommends that you consult a physician after any bite by a warm blooded animal or exposure to their saliva or brain tissue.
Rabies in cats has accounted for 90 percent of the domestic animal cases in New Jersey since 1989. For the last 5 years there has been an average of 16 cats infected with rabies annually. In that same period since 1989, the most cases have been found in raccoons (4137) and skunks (853). During 2000-2004, more cats than dogs were reported rabid in the United States. The large number of rabies-infected cats might be attributed to fewer cat vaccination laws, fewer leash laws for cats, and the roaming habits of cats. The relatively large number of infected cats is probably also due to cats tangling with raccoons and skunks, common visitors to our backyards and fields.
Worldwide, there are about 55,000 human deaths from rabies, most of them in Asia and Africa. In 97 percent of these cases, the cause was a dog bite. As recently as November 2013, a graduate student at a university in India was bitten by a stray puppy on the campus and died of rabies.
