Rabies Program/Animal Bites
Rabies Program
The Health Environmentalist conducts investigations of animal bite reports and quarantines dogs, cats, and ferrets for 10
days.
For more information:
Animal Bite Reporting
Vaccinating your pets for rabies is required by Kentucky law (KRS 258.015). This applies to cats, dogs, and ferrets.
Why does this law exist?
Rabies is an extremely deadly disease, but it is also highly preventable. Rabies prevention efforts, such as requiring rabies vaccination for pets, have significantly reduced the number of rabies cases, especially in humans. However, even though rabies prevention strategies have reduced the rates of rabies cases in domesticated animals and humans, rabies is still present in many wildlife species, such as bats, raccoons, skunks, and foxes (source: https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/