• By Lynne Mitchell
• Posted Thursday, January 17, 2013

Low-cost Rabies Clinic is Saturday, February 2

Please have dogs on leashes and cats and ferrets be in carriers. If you do not have a carrier, loaners are available. Pets must be 3 months of age or older to receive the rabies shot. This clinic is ONLY FOR 1-YEAR VACCINATIONS. Forsyth County Animal Control is located at 5570 Sturmer Park Circle in Winston-Salem (just off University Parkway).

For more information, call (336) 703-2480.

In 2012, there were 14 confirmed cases of Rabies in Forsyth County. Rabies is a preventable disease of mammals most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. That is because rabid animals have the disease in their saliva or drool. If rabies enters the body, it attacks the brain and spinal cord.

In North Carolina, raccoons are more likely to have rabies than any other animal. However, cats, dogs, foxes, skunks, and farm animals can also get rabies. Even humans can get rabies. Rabies kills if it is not prevented. Once signs of the disease appear in an animal or a human, they usually die within 10 days. But you can get anti-rabies shots to fight off the disease. Rabies shots need to be given as soon as possible after a bite has occurred, before symptoms appear. The vaccination consists of a series of six shots given over 30 days.