{"id":351724,"date":"2026-07-24T23:38:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T23:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/351724\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T23:38:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T23:38:13","slug":"free-rabies-vaccines-polk-animal-control-spca-florida-partner-after-recent-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/351724\/","title":{"rendered":"Free rabies vaccines: Polk animal control, SPCA Florida partner after recent cases"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rabies \"Rabies Rabies prevention efforts amid local cases<\/a> <\/p>\n

Several Florida counties, including Polk, Sarasota and Citrus, have issued rabies alerts. Now, SPCA Florida is hosting a free event to help protect pets. FOX 13’s Carla Bayron reports.<\/p>\n

LAKELAND, Fla. – Health officials across Polk<\/a>, Sarasota and Citrus counties issued rabies alerts, prompting local animal groups to offer free vaccinations and microchips Saturday in Lakeland.<\/p>\n

Polk County rabies clinic <\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

Polk County Animal Control, SPCA Florida and Greater Good Charities are partnering to host a free clinic starting Saturday at 8 a.m. at the shelter on Brannen Road. The first 500 dogs and cats will receive a free microchip and rabies vaccine.<\/p>\n

The effort follows an incident last month in Polk County where a rabid stray cat attacked five people and a puppy in north Lakeland. Authorities noted raccoons are high transmitters of rabies in Florida, though pets can also contract the virus through bites or scratches from infected animals.<\/p>\n

Protecting pets from rabies <\/p>\n

Why you should care:<\/p>\n

Getting a pet microchipped normally costs between $25 and $75 depending on the clinic, while a rabies vaccine ranges from $45 to over $100. Organizers say this free event provides major financial relief, saving owners up to $200 per pet.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

With hurricane season active, organizers urge owners to microchip their pets in case animals get lost after a storm. Event staff will also distribute free hurricane preparation kits to attending families.<\/p>\n

Avoiding stray or wild animal exposure <\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

Health authorities stress that residents must avoid contact with stray or wild animals and should never feed them.<\/p>\n

“Oftentimes, people get exposed because they try to protect their animals from a rabid raccoon or a fight, so the simple message is: do not come into contact with animals you don’t know,” said Gayle Guidash, the administrator for the Citrus County Health Department.<\/p>\n

“Normally, a microchip might cost someone anywhere from $25 up to $75, depending on the clinic they go to. A rabies vaccine may be anywhere from $45 to $100-plus, so this could potentially be a savings of $200 per person, per pet,” said Randa Richter, the humane programs and public media director with SPCA Florida.<\/p>\n

Richter adds she hopes this’ll become an annual event for the community.<\/p>\n

The Source: The information in this story was gathered from SPCA Florida, Citrus County Health Department and Polk County Animal Control.<\/p>\n

Polk County<\/a>Pets and Animals<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rabies prevention efforts amid local cases Several Florida counties, including Polk, Sarasota and Citrus, have issued rabies alerts.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[47,28,30,29,115,8713,7153,628],"class_list":["post-351724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-news","tag-pets-animals","tag-polk","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}