October 29, 2025, Clarkesville, Georgia – Habersham County Animal Care and Control (HCACC) receives conformation of positive rabies case.
On Thursday October 23rd ,2025 Habersham County Animal Care and Control responded to a call made to the Department from Sunshine Circle in Cornelia, GA in reference to bite call involving a resident who was bitten by a stray cat. Animal Control Officer Roper responded to the call and was able to locate and impound the cat.
The cat was displaying clinical signs of rabies and was immediately humanely euthanized and Habersham County Animal Control submitted the specimen to the CDC State Laboratory for rabies testing via Habersham Environmental Health. Results that confirmed a positive specimen were obtained Tuesday afternoon.
This marks the fourth Positive Case of Rabies in Habersham this calendar year.
“This is a reminder to check that your pet’s vaccinations are current. Dogs and cats who receive an initial rabies vaccination are not considered immunized until 28 days after the vaccine has been administered, therefore it is strongly recommended that any animal newly vaccinated or those too young to receive the vaccine (less than three months) not be left outdoors unattended.” Says Madi Nix HCACC Director.
“We cannot stress enough that free feeding feral cats is detrimental to the animals and the community. Unmanaged colonies spread disease among our furry friends and also put our human population at risk”
In addition to vaccinating your pets for rabies, there are several things residents can do to protect themselves and their pets:
- Avoid wildlife and animals you do not know.
- Do not allow your pet to roam; it can come in contact with rabid wildlife.
- Never feed or touch wild animals, especially bats, skunks, raccoons, or foxes.
- Seek medical attention immediately if bitten or exposed to saliva of a wild animal.
- Contact your veterinarian if your pet was exposed to a bat, raccoon, skunk, or other wild carnivore.
- Do not encourage the feeding of unmanaged cat colonies. If you do feed cats, ensure they are part of a TNR colony and have been vaccinated for rabies.
To learn more about HCACC, visit https://www.habershamga.com/animal-control.cfm.
To learn more about the rabies virus visit https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/index.html
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About HCACC
The Habersham County Department of Animal Care & Control (HCACC) promotes and protects public safety and animal care through sheltering, pet placement, education, and animal law enforcement. Our mission is to enforce state laws and county ordinances pertaining to animal control and management; to promote the health, safety, and welfare of all animals in Habersham County; to promote compassion towards animals; to promote safe human-animal interactions; and to help educate the community in responsible pet ownership.
promote safe human-animal interactions; and to help educate the community in responsible pet ownership.
About the Center for Disease Control
CDC works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are chronic or acute, curable or preventable, human error or deliberate attack, CDC fights disease and supports communities and citizens to do the same.
CDC increases the health security of our nation. As the nation’s health protection agency, CDC saves lives and protects people from health threats. To accomplish our mission, CDC conducts critical science and provides health information that protects our nation against expensive and dangerous health threats and responds when these arise.