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Protecting Against Rabies
Written By: David Stroud - Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society | Issue: June 2023
Thanks to a clever, caring staff and a generous community of donors, Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society serves as a beacon of rabies control.
Left to Right: Shelter Manager Kaitlyn Moss Villarreal and Assistant Manager Jodi Henkel administer a rabies vaccination to shelter kitty Clyde)
To protect human health and to prevent and control rabies, North Carolina law requires rabies vaccination of owned domestic dogs, cats, and ferrets at four months of age.
The rabies vaccine must be administered only by a veterinarian, a registered veterinary technician under the direct supervision of a veterinarian, or a certified rabies vaccinator (CRV). There are approximately 350 approved certified rabies vaccinators in the State of North Carolina.
To ensure the safety of animals, staff, volunteers, and guests, the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society requires that all cats and dogs brought to the shelter have an up-to-date rabies shot.
But this used to be a hardship for folks like Good Samaritans who bring in strays on a daily basis because, for the first 32 years in the history of CHHS, the shelter never had one staff person approved by the county and the state to be a CRV. Shelter staff used to end up taking the stray (or owner-surrendered pet) to a veterinarian, and CHHS paid for the vaccination.
We still don’t have one CRV on staff. We have two.
After a lengthy examination, training, and approval process, Shelter Manager Kaitlyn Moss Villarreal and Assistant Manager Jodi Henkel became the first CHHS team members to earn the CRV certification in 2018. Not only does this mean that CHHS can administer the rabies vaccine to all shelter pets, CHHS also offers several low-cost rabies vaccination clinics throughout the year to the general public to help folks keep their personal pets safe and in compliance with NC law.
Rabies vaccinations are just $10 for personal pets on an appointment-only basis at the shelter. The vaccination includes a rabies tag and a completed certificate for each vaccinated animal. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call CHHS at (828) 743-5752.
Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit animal welfare organization located at 200 Gable Drive in Sapphire, one-and-a-half miles east of the Cashiers Ingles in between Cedar Creek Club and Lonesome Valley on Highway 64. Visit us online at www.chhumanesociety.org. Tax-deductible donations to support our lifesaving work can be mailed to: CHHS, P.O. Box 638, Cashiers, NC 28717.
