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Translation? They had it beaten nearly a decade ago. Now it’s back with a vengeance.
The Real Cause of the Crisis
Why is rabies spreading like wildfire? Doctors are clear: the government cut the very programs that kept it under control.
Dr. Aaron Glatt of Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital didn’t mince words: “When there are cutbacks in animal control and prevention of rabies efforts, invariably that can lead to increased incidence of rabies in wild animals, with the tragic potential [for] cases in humans.”
In other words, bureaucrats pulled funding from the front-line defenses — and ordinary families are left to pay the price.
Dr. Edward Rensimer, another specialist in rabies prevention, pointed out another failure. He said, “The CDC, at least in part, attributes this to human translocation of animals into areas where rabies had not been or was in very low incidence.”
So not only did officials slash prevention programs, they also allowed infected animals to be moved around the country unchecked.
Families and Pets Left Vulnerable
The CDC itself admits that 75% of American families are routinely exposed to raccoons, skunks, and foxes — the exact carriers spreading this disease. Over 90% of all rabies cases now come from wild animals, with bats as the leading culprit.
And don’t think your pet is safe just because it stays indoors. The CDC has warned, “Pets that mostly stay inside a home may seem like they are at low risk to get rabies, but rabid wildlife can get into our homes and backyards even if we don’t see them.”
They added, “Our pets are more likely than us to interact with wildlife, and they are often unable to tell us when they’ve been exposed.”
Already, six Americans have died from rabies in the past year — two of them in 2025 alone. Rabies has now been detected in wildlife in every state except Hawaii.
Government’s Weak Response
So what’s the big plan? In Nassau County, the solution was to drop vaccine-laced bait in the fall of 2024. That’s right — scattering treated food and hoping wild animals eat it.
As for families and their pets? The county offered “free rabies vaccinations” on a single Saturday in September. One day, for an entire county.
Dr. Rensimer admitted that some states are now scrambling to increase “allocation of funds for rabies vaccine bait placement for wildlife” — but only after the outbreaks were already underway.
A Preventable Disaster
This entire crisis boils down to one undeniable truth: government agencies had rabies under control, then let it slip by cutting the very programs that worked. Now the disease is racing back, and the burden falls on families who thought their pets were safe.
Dr. Glatt offered the only clear advice left: “The best way to avoid rabies is to stay away from wildlife.”
But that’s hardly reassuring when infected animals are showing up in neighborhoods because politicians and bureaucrats failed to keep prevention systems funded.
They’ll pour billions into wasteful projects nobody asked for, yet they can’t keep a basic animal control program alive. The result? Deadly diseases threatening families in every backyard.
For pet owners, the warning is clear: keep your pets’ vaccinations current. Because if you’re waiting for government bureaucrats to handle the problem, you’ll be waiting too long.
