Low-cost clinic to mark World Rabies Day with $5 rabies shots

To commemorate World Rabies Day, an initiative created by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control to raise awareness about the impact of human and animal rabies, Fort Collins Cat Rescue & Spay/Neuter Clinic is offering $5 rabies vaccinations for dogs and cats on Sept. 26 in Fort Collins and Loveland, and on Sept. 27 in Loveland only.

The walk-in pet vaccination clinics on Sept. 26 will be 8 a.m.-3 p.m. at both Fort Collins Cat Rescue & Spay/Neuter Clinic, 2321 E. Mulberry St., Unit 9, in Fort Collins; and at Hank’s Pet Food Market, 2287 W. Eisenhower Blvd. in Loveland. The one walk-in clinic on Sept. 27 will be 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at Cosmic Dog Wash, 116 W. 4th St. in Loveland.

Despite rabies being a 100 percent preventable disease, it is 99.9 percent fatal. It is estimated that 69,000 people die worldwide from rabies each year, approximately one person every seven minutes.

“Rabies is a global problem that we can all play a role in defeating,” said Mariah McCulley, clinic manager for Fort Collins Cat Rescue & Spay/Neuter Clinic. “We can ‘End Rabies Together,’ the theme for World Rabies Day 2015, and will not only be helping our community, but also helping the world.”

World Rabies Day is a coordinated effort to address rabies prevention and control. “Vaccinating dogs keeps everyone safe, and is a message that needs to be more widely known,” said Professor Louis Nel, chief executive officer for the Global Alliance of Rabies Control. “We can save the lives of tens of thousands of people that die needlessly each year from rabies by raising awareness of the disease and taking the correct preventative measures.”

Fort Collins Cat Rescue & Spay/Neuter Clinic is promoting prevention of rabies during its two-day weekend event by offering rabies vaccinations for one-third their normal price. The event is a walk-in clinic – no appointment is required – and multiple vaccination stations will be set up in an effort to keep waiting to a minimum. The clinic’s other vaccines and microchipping services will be available at their normal prices.

“Rabies prevention starts with the animal owner,” McCulley advised. “We recommend that people vaccinate dogs, cats and any other animal that has regular contact with humans.”

For more information, contact the clinic by calling (970) 484-1861, or visit the organization’s website, www.FCCRSNC.org. Additional information is available online at www.rabiesalliance.org.