If you have a dog or cat in Saskatoon, you are supposed to have it vaccinated against rabies. But a member of Saskatoon's animal control committee, Ed Hudson, says pet owners should also be vaccinated. The number of animal bites has been going up in Saskatoon, 404 reported cases versus 361 in 2012, and 21 people were treated with some form of rabies vaccine this year after being bitten. Hudson argues mandatory vaccination will reduce the chance of people catching rabies.
However it would seem to me that you'd need to vaccinate far more people than the official owner of a dog or cat. My cousin, her husband, and their daughter live with several dogs. I don't know who the registered owner is, but if one member of the family is at risk, they all are. Then there's my aunt, who has regular dealings with those dogs when the family is working and at school. So there is a case where four people would seem to require vaccination. You can extrapolate that to all the households in town that have pets that require vaccination. And it probably would need to be extended to others who don't have pets of their own, but work regularly around them, such as pet shop employees.
Hmmm, maybe I need to be more careful around the friendly cat who's been visiting my place lately....
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