Animal Shelter Statistics - 03-2008

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Animal Services Monthly Report March, 2008 well as other animals) and a human victim. In these cases, it is a legal requirement and public health precaution that a dog or cat biting a human being be contained and observed for a period of ten (10) days—thereby ensuring that the bite victim was not exposed to the rabies virus. Efforts to ensure current vaccination, for the welfare of pets and the people with whom they come into contact, are ongoing and activities in this area are captured by vaccination statistics compiled by our Animal Control Division. As is ordinarily the case, the majority of these vaccinations—1141 out of a total of 1204 vaccinations—continue to be performed at veterinary establishments. In addition, another sixty-three (63) animals were vaccinated at our Animal Shelter prior to their adoption or recovery. No low-cost rabies vaccination clinics were held in March, but there are four scheduled for April Seventeen total clinics were held during 2007—and 1157 dogs and cats were vaccinated as a result. Details for the upcoming April clinics can be found at http://www.co.orange.nc.us/animalservices.rabies.asp. All of these activities—public education and outreach, investigations and enforcement, and providing low-cost vaccination clinics—are critical given that Orange County continues to be affected by the epidemic of “eastern raccoon rabies” that began in the latter half of the 1990s. Their essential nature is further underscored by the current view that we have been on the upside of a raccoon rabies cycle that may bring even higher numbers of confirmed rabies cases than we have seen in recent years. Special Monthly Notes There have been challenges and changes that have affected animal disposition numbers this month. The most notable was the beginning of a remediation project being conducted by The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in preparation of their new “Carolina North” campus. The project site has taken up much of the Animal Shelter parking area and created a need for staff to find different avenues to keep the public informed and aware of the Shelter ’s continuing operations. Parking for the shelter has been moved behind the shelter and a detour has been created in order to clearly direct visitors and staff to that designated area. The remediation project is scheduled to last until August, 2008. Conclusion As a very young department that only came into existence in 2005, Animal Services continues to develop new ways in which to better serve the animals and citizens of the county. As suggested in our discussion of pet overpopulation, there are a number of initiatives that must be taken to effectively address the underlying problem of pet overpopulation. These include the creation of a spay/neuter fund and an effective 7