CRANBURY: Town ponders pet census

By Nicole M. Wells, Special Writer
CRANBURY — In light of the recent rabies incident at 67 South Main Street, the township Board of Health is urging the Township Committee to perform the state-mandated dog/cat census.
The purpose of the census is to determine if the dogs and cats living in the township are licensed, and, therefore, vaccinated against rabies.
At Monday night’s committee meeting, Board of Health Chairman John Jackson and County Health Officer Lee Lloyd stressed the importance of doing the census.
According to a letter Mr. Jackson presented to the committee, prepared by members of the Board of Health, there are currently 178 dogs licensed in Cranbury.
"That’s about half of our typical average," he read. "Without the biennial census as a check, we (the Board of Health) feel the number of licensed dogs will only decrease."
According to Mr. Jackson, the point of licensing dogs is to ensure that they have received their rabies vaccinations.
Ms. Lloyd said that it’s possible the number of licensed dogs is lower than usual because no one is checking to see if they are licensed.
"Since no one’s going to check, they’re (pet owners) not making it a priority," she said.
Mayor Susan Goetz said that the issue of the dog/cat census has come up previously.
"We’ve talked about this before," she said. "We’ve tried to get this done, we have money in the budget to get it done, but the problem we’re having is finding someone to do it."
To get the census done, someone must knock on the door of every home in the township – 1,760 doors – and ask if a dog or a cat lives there.
The census list of dogs and cats is then cross-checked against the list of licensed dogs and cats to determine the rabies vaccination status of the pets residing in the township.
According to Ms. Lloyd, owners who are not in compliance with vaccination and licensing regulations will be given a specified amount of time to get their pets vaccinated and licensed before they are fined or issued summonses.
Mayor Goetz said that the last attempt to do the census resulted in the hiring of two students, one of whom never showed up to work and the other quit after two hours of canvassing.
"We all recognize that it needs to be done and it’s frustrating not being able to find somebody to do it when we thought we had somebody," she said.
Township Administrator Denise Marabello said that Public Works Director Jerry Thorne estimated the census would take about 250 hours to complete.
"Ideally, it’s also a time to give the individual information about free rabies clinics and regulations associated with licensing dogs," Mayor Goetz said.
Even if dogs and cats are not licensed, their owners can still take them to the free rabies clinics to receive the vaccine. Licenses are not checked at the free rabies clinics, according to Mr. Jackson.
"There’s a lot of people who’re afraid to come for the vaccine because they have a problem with the license," Mr. Jackson said. "They don’t understand that you need the vaccine to get the license."
According to the Middlesex County Public Health Department, rabies is a viral disease of all warm-blooded mammals, including man.
The virus attacks the central nervous system and is found in the saliva of an infected animal, with the usual mode of transmission being through a bite.
According to Township Veterinarian Michael E. Young, rabies destroys parts of the brain and is universally fatal.
Vaccinating dogs and cats creates an effective barrier between the rabies virus and people and is an excellent method of prevention, according to the county health agency.
The next county-sponsored free rabies clinic is scheduled to take place from 12 to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13 at the firehouse on South Main Street, according to the Middlesex County Public Health Department’s website.