Hit and Run
By Mariann Chew
It has been brought to my attention that there has been quite a few cats that have been hit by cars on Los Banos Streets and left to suffer a slow painful death. Recently a young cat was taken to the vet and had to be euthanized after it was hit by a car and left in the middle of the road. A kind, concerned, citizen picked up the cat and took it to the Los Banos Animal Shelter where a volunteer took it to the veterinarian. The cat was humanly euthanized due to the extent of it’s injuries. There is a protocol that should be followed if a cat or dog is accidentally hit by a car. If the animal is alive please call the Animal Control officer, Jason at (209) 827-7070 ext. 252, the Volunteers For Animals at (209) 827-7089 or the local police if Jason is unavailable; or you are unable to safely remove the animal from the street. If you are able to safely remove the cat please take the injured cat to the animal shelter or a veterinarian. If it were your beloved pet that was accidently hit, wouldn’t you want someone to do the same for her? If the animal is dead, please try to safely remove it from the street using your caution lights and dispose of it in a plastic bag. Never put your own life in danger though. It is a terrible sight to see an animal constantly run over time after time, every living creature deserves our respect.
The next low cost vaccination clinic dates will be August 18th and September 1st at the Los Banos Tractor Supply from 2:30 until 4:00pm. The vaccination clincis will take place every other Sunday, so make sure your puppy gets all of his puppy shots on time. Parvo and distemper are the major killers of puppies. At four months your puppy should get his first rabies shot. This shot is good for one year and then he will only need it every three years unless you are traveling to a county with a high incidence of rabies. Talk to your personal veterinarian about those issues.
It is important that we keep our pets safe from diseases that are easily preventable with a vaccine.