Protect Your Pets: Suffolk To Offer Free Rabies Vaccines In September

ISLIP, NY — Suffolk County residents can bring their pets for free rabies vaccinations next month.

The Suffolk County Department of Health Services is offering free rabies vaccinations for dogs, cats and ferrets in Islip and Bay Shore in September.

Pet owners can bring their fur baby to Gardener County Park on Montauk Highway in Bay Shore for a free rabies vaccination on Saturday, September 28, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For details, call the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at 631-382-7722.

The Islip Animal Shelter will offer free rabies vaccines on Sunday, September 29, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 200 S. Technology Drive in Central Islip. For details, residents may call the Islip Animal Shelter at 631-224-5660.

The clinics are available to Suffolk County residents; however, the quantity of vaccines is limited and available only while supplies last.

All dogs must be on leashes and all cats and ferrets must be in carriers.

Recently tightened New York State laws require dogs and cats to receive their first rabies vaccine no later than four months after birth. A second rabies booster must be given within one year of the initial vaccine.

Rules require additional booster shots every one or three years after that, depending on which vaccine is used. Pet owners who do not have their pets vaccinated or keep the animals' booster shots current can be fined as much as $2000 for violations.

According to the DOH, rabies is a deadly disease caused by a virus that attacks the central nervous system. It mostly affects wild animals including raccoons, bats, skunks and foxes, but any mammal can be infected with rabies.

Pets and livestock can get rabies if they are not vaccinated to protect them against infection.

Three to six percent of the bats tested annually in Suffolk County test positive for rabies, the DOH said. In 2017, one river otter tested positive for rabies.

The first sign of rabies is often a change in an animal's behavior. A rabid animal might become abnormally aggressive or unusually tame. Infected animals might stagger, spit and/or froth at the mouth.

All animal bites or contact with animals suspected of being rabid should be reported to the Suffolk County Department of Health Services at 631-853-0333. If possible, contain the animal so that it can be tested.

Animal lovers can find the latest news and alerts about rabies incidents in Suffolk County at the health department’s website.