Springtime is Rabies Awareness Time

Well, it’s that time of year again.  The days are getting a little longer and brighter and the temperature is less likely to dip below 20 degrees.  This means the local wildlife is waking up and starting to be seen around the community.  It also means the beginning of the rabies season for the local health department and the animal control officers.

What can rabies do? In pets, it can debilitate and cause death. It can also put you at risk of acquiring rabies. Although there is treatment for humans, there is no treatment for pets so it is up to you to protect them.

The East Shore District Health Department wants to inform the public of a wild animal case of rabies in East Haven. All residents should take safety measures. In Connecticut, rabies is usually carried by skunks, raccoons, and bats but any mammal could carry the disease. The Health Department wants to remind residents to protect themselves and their pets from contact with these wild animals.

Here are simple precautions that you can take:

• Don't feed, touch or adopt wild animals, stray dogs or cats. Enjoy wildlife from a distance. If you see an animal that is sick, injured or orphaned, call an animal control officer or a wildlife rehabilitator. Do not handle the animal yourself.
• Vaccinate your pets. Be sure your pet dogs, cats and ferrets as well as horses and valuable livestock animals are up-to-date on their rabies vaccinations. Pets too young to be vaccinated should be kept indoors and allowed outside only under direct observation.
• Keep family pets indoors at night. Don't leave them outside unattended or let them roam free.
• Don't attract wild animals to your home or yard. Keep your property free of stored bird seed or other foods that may attract wild animals. Feed pets indoors. Tightly cap or put away garbage cans.
• Get wild animals removed from your home. If nuisance wild animals are living in parts of your home, consult with a nuisance wildlife control expert about having them removed.
• Teach children not to touch any animal they do not know and to tell an adult immediately if they are bitten by any animal.
• Let wild animals wander away if they are on your property.  Bring children and pets indoors and alert neighbors who are outside.
• Report all animal bites or contact with wild animals to your local health department. If possible, do not let any animal escape that has possibly exposed someone to rabies.

To learn more about rabies in both humans and animals, contact the Centers for Disease Control at 1-800- CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636), or visit www.cdc.gov/rabies.  For further information, contact the East Shore District Health Department, serving the towns of Branford, North Branford, and East Haven at (203)-481-4233 or by visiting our website at www.ESDHD.org.

Animal Control Officer Contact phone numbers:

Branford: (203) 315-4125

East Haven: (203) 468-3249

North Branford: (203) 315-4125