By Douglas Yu

Rabies Awareness Month is underway and dog owners far and wide are encouraged to have their pets vaccinated in order to assure the health and safety of both animals and their owners.

In one of the most dog-friendly cities in Greater Boston, Somerville residents have one thing they couldn’t wait to do when the temperature in New England hit 60 degrees for the first time this year: walk their dogs in a rabies-free environment.

Last Saturday, the City of Somerville hosted its 15th annual rabies clinic for cats and dogs at the warehouse in the back of the Department of Public Works. In less than an hour, over 30 Somerville cats and dogs owners brought their pets to have them vaccinated and licensed.

Rabies is a viral disease that affects the nervous system of mammals and human beings, according to rabiesawareness.com. April is known as Rabies Awareness Month.

“We estimated that there are 7,000 licensed dogs in the city,” Brian Davis, President of the SomDog said. “The clinic is easy for folks who don’t have the means and time to get their pets vaccinated.”

SomDog is a non-profit organization founded in 2004, shortly after its members learned about the city’s ordinance, which for the safety of children didn’t allow dogs to go into parks. It’s dedicated to promoting responsible dog ownership throughout the city and neighboring areas.

Davis believed that there were more than 7,000 licensed dogs in Somerville, and he said the clinic event was intended to drive the number back up. “The more dogs that are licensed, the more services you get,” he said.

The license verifies that the animals have received rabies shots, which costs $10 per shot at the event. The pet owners were also given a green tree-shaped tag that says “2015 Somerville Dog License.” The tag can be attached to a dog’s collar.

Two volunteer veterinarians at the event were from Porter Square Veterinarian, a local animal hospital that has been providing animal care service for the Somerville-Cambridge community for over 30 years. They provided two types of vaccinations to Somerville pet owners, one-year vaccine and the three-year ones, depending on when the last vaccine expires.

“The tag doesn’t identify the current vaccine. It just says whether the animal had the vaccine,” said one of the veterinarians, John Bujalski, after he vaccinated a pet dog. Tags are different each year in color and shape as well in order to make sure all the animals receive up-to-date vaccine shots.

All the pets were vaccinated in the same location on their bodies: the subcutaneous area of their right hind legs. “So if there is a vaccine reaction, we’ll know which vaccine we give caused that reaction,” Bujalski explained.

Erika Serrano, a Somerville resident, owns a Yorkie who just turned five years old on April 1. This was her first time to come to the city clinic. “It keeps the dogs healthy and safe,” she said. “And the licenses are good too. So if anyone complained about your pet, you have the documents to prove the animal is vaccinated.”

April Terrio, Senior Animal Control Officer from the City of Somerville, said the city has a database to track whose pets are licensed. “A lot of people don’t know that in Massachusetts all vets must send a copy of a vaccination certificate to the town or city where the animal lives once they vaccinated an animal with the rabies shot,” Terrio said. “The information will be put into a database in Somerville.”

Currently, there are three major dog parks in Somerville, including Nunziato Field Dog Park located near Union Square. All these dog parks allow dogs that have been vaccinated, and some from other cities also visit there.

“If your dog is licensed in any city, that means they don’t have rabies,” Davis said. “Somerville doesn’t discriminate against any cities or licensed dogs outside of the city. The community of Somerville doesn’t end at our borders and walls. The clinic is open to the surrounding communities as well.”

For more information, contact the Somerville Health & Human Services Department at 617-625-6600 ext. 4300.