PRESS RELEASE

 From the Office of the Commissioner of Health, Dr. Gale R. Burstein

Date September 16, 2016                                

CONTACT: Mary C. St. Mary/Mary.StMary@Erie.Gov

Phone: 716.858.4941/ Mobile: 716.253.3925

 1,000+ Pets Receive Rabies Vaccine in 3 Hours

Clinic at ECC North Campus is Tremendous Success

ERIE COUNTY, NY— On Wednesday, September 14, 2016, the Vector Control and Rabies Prevention team, from the Erie County Department of Health’s (ECDOH) Division of Environmental Health, conducted an extremely successful rabies vaccination clinic at the North Campus of Erie Community College.

In a little over three hours’ time, 1,056 pets (dogs, cats and ferrets) received vaccinations that will protect them from the fatal threat of rabies. “This is an outstanding accomplishment by our team, led by Senior Public Health Sanitarian Peter Tripi,” stated Dr. Gale Burstein, Erie County Commissioner of Health.  “We continue to educate Erie County residents on the very real risks of encountering rabies virus-exposed wildlife and subsequent life-threatening consequences to both humans and pets. Cost should not be a factor in order to protect your pets and family from an extremely preventable risk. These annual rabies vaccination clinics provide an invaluable public health service.”

“We could not accomplish this without the valuable assistance of volunteers from the Niagara Frontier Veterinary Society veterinarians and Medaille College’s Veterinary Technology program’s veterinary technologists who safely and efficiently vaccinate the pets in what can be a stressful environment for the animals,” said Tripi. “Then our volunteers from the SPCA serving Erie County and the Specialized Medical Assistance Response Team (“SMART”) take over to complete the necessary documentation in short order.”

There are 2 free rabies vaccination clinics remaining in 2016:

Tuesday, Sept. 20^th               Springville Volunteer Fire Department, 405 W. Main St.

Wednesday, Sept. 28^th         West Seneca Highway Garage, 39 South Ave. (off Union Rd.)

Both clinics are from 4-7pm.

Additional information on the clinics can be obtained by calling (716) 961-6800.

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