County Animal Shelter to Host Low-Cost Rabies Vaccination Clinic in Annandale

The Fairfax County Animal Shelter low-cost rabies vaccination clinic is coming back to Annandale this weekend.

Residents looking to get their pet vaccinated can stop by the on Sunday, March 4 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The shots are $12 per pet and only dogs and cats are eligible to be vaccinated through the clinic. The standard vaccination is good for a year, but pets can receive a three-year vaccine if their owner brings a rabies certificates with the animal’s current rabies vaccination information and expiration dates.

Dog licenses for 2012 will also be available for purchase for $10 per dog. All dogs should be on leashes and all cats should be in carriers.

According to Michelle Hankins, community outreach coordinator for the Fairfax County Animal Shelter, the shelter facilitated a total of 3,176 animals vaccinations in 2011. Of that amount, 1,233 were dogs and 1,943 were cats. Those numbers include shelter pets, rabies clinics and spay/neuter clinics.

Last year, Fairfax County saw about three dozen rabies cases, mostly involving racoons and skunks. Rabies is a deadly disease caused by a virus that attacks the central nervous system and kills almost any mammal or human that gets sick from it. The rabies virus is mainly in the saliva of rabid animals and can be transmitted through a bite or by getting saliva in a wound or in the eye or mouth.

The clinic is sponsored by the Animal Shelter and and is a partnership between Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross and the Mason District Station of the Fairfax County Police Department.

The was on Sept. 18, 2011. In January, the rabies clinic was offered to residents in Centreville in the Sully District.

Anyone with questions about the rabies clinic can call the Fairfax County Animal Shelter at 703-830-1100.