Outreach and Education
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Outreach and Education
Rabies Quarantine in Santa Cruz County!
What does it mean for you?
 On December 2, 2009, the county supervisors approved a 60-day quarantine for Santa Cruz County. It went into effect immediately. The quarantine was in response to a large number of animals that have been confirmed with rabies in the last couple of months, mostly skunks. Between January 1 and November 30, 2009, The Arizona State Health Lab had confirmed 51 cases of rabies in Santa Cruz County, including 43 skunks, 1 cow, 2 horses, 1 coyote, and 1 cat, and 3 bats. Both horses were infected with the South Central skunk variant, indicating that they had mostly likely been bitten by skunks.
The quarantine requires:
- All pet owners to vaccinate their dogs and cats against rabies.
- All dogs must be confined to the owner’s property or on a leash no more than 6 feet long. Any dogs found at large may be picked up by animal control and disposed of according to state law.
- No feeding of wild animals and no pet food left outside past sundown.
- Compost bins must be covered and secured against skunks and raccoons.
- No human interference with wild animal trapping.
Any animal that bites a person is to be handled according to Arizona Revised Statutes 11-1014: an unvaccinated dog or cat to be quarantined at the county pound or at a veterinary hospital for at least 10 days. If the animal shows signs of rabies, it will be destroyed. But a vaccinated animal may be confined and observed at home.
If a dog or cat fights with a skunk and is bitten, it may have been exposed to rabies. If the pet is unvaccinated, it should be euthanized or confined for six months, as it may take that long for symptoms of rabies to appear.
Arizona is home to 4 species of skunks. To learn more about Arizona’s skunks, click here. To learn more about rabies in Arizona’s wildlife, click here.
For more information about rabies, click here for the Arizona State Health Lab, or here for the Centers for Disease Control.
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