Rabies/Animal Control - Hardin County

Rabies Is a Serious Public Health Problem!
Rabies Is Fatal!
Got It?

If you think we have a rabies/animal control program in Hardin County, you could be dead wrong. That’s a fact, Jack.

So, who is responsible, you say. Glad you ask.

The vast majority of the Citizens of Hardin County are not holding up their end or doing their part and you can bet that our county government, including the Hardin County Health Department, are not doing their part.

That’s just wrong, but then again there has been no one able to make either one of them understand what their respective part was. Thought I would give it a shot.

Less than 5,000 animals in Hardin County have current vaccinations and that can be tracked primarily to the efforts of the privately funded spade and neutering programs, primarily by the Horse Creek Wild Life folks. Thank you, very much.

We don’t have animal/rabies control and your local legislative body, that would be the Mayor/County Commission, of course, gives out lip service about we can’t afford it or we got something else to pay for first. That’s just wrong, too. One needs to cover the costs safety and welfare of the community, whatever that cost may be, before one spends a lot of our resources on inviting others to come visit us.

We (Hardin County) make no contribution to an effective local, state or national rabies-control program. We make no effort to prevent or eliminate exposures to rabid animals.

The standard of procedures among jurisdictions that contribute to an effect national rabies-control program states as a CRITICAL component, that local governments should initiate and maintain effective programs to ensure vaccination of all dogs, cats, and ferrets and to remove strays and unwanted animals from the community.

This latest version of the standard procedures is known as Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control, 2007 and is published by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, Inc. (NASPHV). As a note, a compendium is a concise yet comprehensive compilation of a body of knowledge.

This compendium, the accepted authority on rabies prevention and animal control, also points out that such procedures in the United States have reduced laboratory-confirmed cases of rabies in dogs from about 7,000 in 1947 to 94 in 2004.

Rabies prevention activities at the state and local levels, although not in Hardin County, have been aimed at reducing exposure to rabies-infected animals and insuring proper treatment when exposure occurs.

There are six (6) designated critical components of these activities for human rabies prevention and they are as follows:

1.) Enhanced Public Health Education;

2.) Domestic Animal Vaccination;

3.) Responsible Pet Ownership;

4.) Rapid, Accurate Laboratory Testing;

5.) Modern Stray Animal Control; and

6.) Timely and Appropriate Prophylaxis.

Well, let’s see, how does Hardin County compare? Glad you ask.

We have no stray animal control, let alone modern, for all practical purposes we have no effective domestic animal vaccination effort and enhanced would hardly describe the public health education efforts in Hardin County. Responsible pet ownership does not apply or even seem to be a concern to the majority, but then again, what is it? Glad you ask.

This accepted authority’s standards are that to be a responsible pet owner, one must do four basic things:

1.) Keep vaccinations up-to-date for all dogs, cats and ferrets. This requirement is important not only to keep your pets from getting rabies, but also to provide a barrier of protection to you, if your animal is bitten by a rabid wild animal.

2.) Keep your pets under direct supervision so they do not come in contact with wild animals.

3.) Call your local animal control agency to remove any stray animals from your neighborhood. They may be unvaccinated and could be infected by the disease.

4.) Spay or neuter your pets to help reduce the number of unwanted pets that may not be properly cared for or regularly vaccinated.

Well, let’s see. With less than an estimated 15% - 20% of the known domestic animals legally vaccinated, that one is not working very well at all. It's the DUTY of pet owners and caretakers to have their animals vacinatted. That's the law in Tennessee, even in Hardin County.

You may not have known it, but, under direct supervision is another way of saying ‘leash law’ and yes we do have one of those in the State of Tennessee, which of course includes Hardin County. But then again, who knew?

Not being able to call your local animal control agency, because it’s not a secret that we don’t have one, probably shouldn’t be counted against the Hardin County citizens on this score card, but not standing up and demanding one, probable should be.

Respectfully submitted for your consideration.

Uncle Ted