World Rabies Day

It seems like there is a special day for everything, especially in the dog world.  There are a lot of pet holidays but this one is very important.  Tomorrow, September 28th, is World Rabies Day.  

World Rabies Day was founded by the Rabies Alliance, whose mission is to "free animals and people from the threat of rabies."  World Rabies Day was created by them to spread awareness of rabies and just how serious it can be.  

When most people picture rabies, they see Cujo or other dogs foaming at the mouth and think that's the only real rabies threat, in animals.  But unfortunately, rabies doesn't just happen to animals.  It happens to people, too.  And it's a incredibly fatal disease.  Many people don't know that rabies has a 99.9% fatality rate, the highest of any known disease.  Someone dies from rabies every 10 minutes.  

This is shocking, but it's necessary to make ourselves aware of the danger of rabies.  This is why it's so important to get our animals vaccinated, even if they rarely go outside.  To give a rundown of just what rabies is, here's some information:

- Rabies is a viral disease, transmitted through saliva or tissues, the most common form of transmittance through a bite.  

- Rabies is responsible for 59,000 human deaths a year, most all of these transmitted through dog bites.

- Millions of dogs are killed in culls every year in a misguided attempt to control rabies

Rabies can be prevented simply through a vaccine.  You can start by making sure you dog is up-to-date with all their shots.  Rabies is fatal, and you never want your dog dying simply because of them not having vaccinations.  And when you're vaccinating your dog, you can prevent not only the death of your dog, but you can save other dogs, and humans, lives.  Research more about rabies and spread awareness for World Rabies Day tomorrow.