Rabies Tags – Page 3

June 15, 2020June 30, 2020

Do I Have To Get My Dog Or Cat A Rabies Vaccine?

Both dogs and cats, as well as ferrets, are required to have a rabies vaccination in New York State, and the veterinarian who administers the shot will give you a Rabies Tag as proof of inoculation. If you’re not a New York resident, you can find more information about your state here: Rabies Aware. You can get a rabies shot medical exemption for your dog or cat if a licensed veterinarian determines that the vaccination will adversely affect your pet’s health. If getting a rabies vaccination is a concern for you, best have a conversation with your veterinarian.

In addition, if you live in New York, you must obtain a license for your dog once it reaches the age of four months. How often that license needs to be renewed – every one, two or three years – is the option of your local government. Fees vary by county and some counties have a significantly lower fee if your dog is neutered or spayed. Cats and ferrets do not need to be licensed. And ferrets may present another issue depending upon where you reside. Continue reading “Do I Have To Get My Dog Or Cat A Rabies Vaccine?”

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July 31, 2019

Five Summer Pet Safety Tips [Infographic]

Summertime, and the livin’ is easy
Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high

— George Gershwin / DuBose Heyward

The myriad pleasures of summer are perfectly encapsulated in the song “Summertime” made famous by Ella Fitzgerald and others. It is traditionally a time to frolic outdoors and be carefree. But for summer-loving humans, it comes with its own set of risks and dangers as well, from sunburn and poison ivy to pesky mosquitoes and under-barbecued burgers.

The same applies to our beloved pets. While dogs and cats love to explore outside when the weather turns warm, it is important to remember there are hidden perils in even the most serene and halcyonic settings that can put their health and very lives at risk.

This infographic will serve as a reminder to pet owners to stay alert to those perils. Continue reading “Five Summer Pet Safety Tips [Infographic]”

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June 27, 2019June 27, 2019

Book Review: Rabid—A Cultural History

By Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy

The full subtitle of this book neatly encapsulates its theme and tone: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus. Note that it identifies itself not as a general or scientific history, but as a “cultural” one. This is an accurate descriptive; for truly, few diseases known to humanity have branded themselves into our collective psyche and culture so widely, so deeply, and for so long; and as something not merely organically deadly but infernally so, and thus profoundly to be feared. (The few others that even come close include leprosy and polio.)

Though shelved in the non-fiction area of your library or bookstore, Rabid spins a series of tales and observations that could have come from the fictional horror story pen of Stephen King. It is at once fascinating and terrifying. The authors, a husband-and-wife team, are eminently qualified to write such a book. Wasik is a magazine editor who writes about science and technology; while Murphy is a veterinarian with a degree in public health. Together they have put together the definitive “biography” of the rabies pathogen. Continue reading “Book Review: Rabid—A Cultural History“

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April 30, 2019April 30, 2019

Rabies in Popular Culture

It may seem odd to associate such a horrific and deadly disease as rabies with “popularity.” It is anything but! Yet since prehistoric times that is exactly how humankind has dealt psychologically with our most memorable tragedies and primal fears: by telling stories about them and depicting them in our art. This is the very essence of “whistling past the graveyard,” as the old phrase goes.

In last month’s article about rabies we wrote:

The term rabies comes from a Latin word meaning “madness.” Surely that is one of the reasons this pathogen has always inspired so much fear: for in the process of killing its host, it first destroys the mind, which is the seat of an individual’s personality. Indeed, some of the most familiar and frightening horror creatures in popular culture—vampires, werewolves, and zombies—are derived from mythologies that harken back to the days when a normal, healthy person could be suddenly transformed into a raving, drooling monster just from the bite of a maddened beast.

That inspired us to explore some of the ways that the rabies virus has historically staked a claim in our cultural collective conscious. Continue reading “Rabies in Popular Culture”

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March 31, 2019April 1, 2019

PSA: A New Pet Disease Even Scarier Than Rabies Rears Its Head

Those little metal pet rabies tags you attach to your dog or cat’s collar are much more than jingling baubles. Rather, they are shining insignia that represent one of humankind’s great victories over a centuries-old scourge.

The annals of recorded medical history are dotted with numerous spectacularly terrifying diseases and pandemics. Some of the most notable include:

The Antonine Plague of 165 A.D., which killed some 5 million people and decimated the Roman army. It is believed to have been a smallpox or measles epidemic, brought back to Italy by soldiers returning from Mesopotamia.
Bubonic Plague—better known as the Black Death of the Middle Ages—a deadly bacterial infection, spread by fleas and rats, that ravaged three continents and took an estimated 200 million lives.
The Flu Pandemic of 1918, which was a perversely lethal strain of influenza that tore across the globe and struck down an estimated 50 million otherwise healthy, robust young adults.
HIV/AIDS, which has racked up a combined death toll of 36 million worldwide since it appeared on the scene in 1981.

Continue reading “PSA: A New Pet Disease Even Scarier Than Rabies Rears Its Head”

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