Family learns painful lesson about rabies vaccination

Yesterday we told you about the first confirmed case of rabies this year in Brunswick county. Today there may be another.

The first case involved a dog that had to be put down after a fight with a raccoon. The dog’s death is a painful lesson for his owners and others.

Mike and Sandra Brown had to say goodbye to their precious Cleetis Wednesday. The two-and-a-half-year-old German Shepard/hound mix got in a fight in his own yard with a rabid raccoon.

“It really broke my heart to see the dog having to leave like that,” Sandra Brown said. “I wouldn’t even go out when they took him.”

Cleetis had his rabies shot when the browns adopted him, but the dog did not get the rabies booster it needed.

“The wife told me to,” Mike Brown said, “but I didn’t get around to it.”

Brunswick County Animal Services Director David Swain says getting your pets vaccinated is critical.

“They had two choices: either quarantine it for six months at their expense, or have the animal put down, and, of course, they chose to have it put down,” Swain said.

Boarding their pup would’ve cost the Browns nearly $2,000, and they couldn’t afford it.

The Browns may not be the only family to go through this this week.

“We had a fox that came in contact with a dog,” Swain said. “It ran up and bit the dog. Of course, the owner killed the fox, but the dog was unvaccinated.”

If the fox tests positive for rabies, the owner is going to be faced with the same difficult decision as the Browns. They hope other pet owners learn from them.

“Just please vaccinate your dog, because it you love your dog you’ll get him vaccinated,” Sandra Brown said. “I wish we had.”

There are several rabies vaccination clinics coming up in the next few weeks:

Saturday, 2-4 p.m.
Stewart’s True Value Hardware
8848 River Rd. SE, Southport
Rabies vaccination cost: $6

Saturday, March 13, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Leland Municipal Park
Rabies vaccination cost: FREE

Saturday, April 10
At veterinary offices in Brunswick County
Rabies vaccination cost: $6