Why You Need to Vaccinate Your Dog Against Rabies

The vaccination of house pets for rabies has multiple benefits.

Vaccines against rabies are available for dogs, cats, ferrets, horses and sheep. The primary reason to vaccinate your pet is to protect your animal from contracting rabies if a rabid animal attacks them.

Secondly, vaccinated pets form a “barrier population” that minimizes the transmission of rabies from wildlife to humans. 

Lastly, there is no way to test animals for rabies while they are alive. Therefore, if your pet is unvaccinated, suspected to be rabid and has potentially exposed a person, it would have to be euthanized in order to test the brain for the rabies virus.

Clients often ask me: "how will my pet contract rabies?"

A bite from any warm-blooded animal could possibly transmit the virus in the saliva if the animal were infected. In Orange County the only animal that has been shown to carry the virus has been the bat. Foxes and skunks in other parts of the state have been shown to carry the virus. There were 17 reported cases of rabid bats in 2011 in Orange County. One was recently found at . 

Sometimes the bat will act sick or injured and be picked up by a cat or a dog or fly into a backyard or balcony and picked up by a pet.

It is so easy to prevent this tragedy. All you have to do is vaccinate your pet.  It is the law in California that all dogs over six months of age be vaccinated for rabies. It is not a law for cats but it is strongly recommended.

The first rabies vaccine your pet receives is good for 1 year, while all subsequent vaccines are good for 3 years.