A southern Manitoba veterinarian says pet owners need to be careful as there have been a number of rabies cases in southeastern Manitoba.

Vanessa Graydon, from Graydon Veterinarian services, says with the warmer weather we have been experiencing both dogs and skunks are becoming more active.

"In the last two weeks we have known of two positive rabies and that is because one of our vets is somebody who can be contracted out to the province to collect samples so we get a little bit more insight now. We usually get the call from the client saying ‘oh my dog got tangled with a skunk, we had it tested, it was positive and guess what, my dog is not vaccinated.’"

Graydon says dog owners are then forced to vaccinate and put their animal in quarantine when they could have gotten the vaccine preemptively to protect their animal. She notes these days many families consider their pets part of their family so it can be very distressing to have your dog in quarantine for six months.

"Your animals are the front line between you and wildlife most of the time. Another reason to get your pet vaccinated especially for rabies is that if your dog is bitten by a rabid animal, that virus is potentially in the saliva and so if your dog is giving you kisses and stuff that is potentially putting you at risk or if it does go out and bite someone else you are held to a much higher standard and liability."

Graydon says though a variety of animals can carry rabies, skunks seem to the most common here in the Southeast.

"When the spring hits again and the days are getting longer and they are waking up and they have more food sources available to them so they are out and about and the outdoor dogs have their bowl of food out which is a nice little handy buffet for a wild animal. If they are not eating all their food, things like that can attract the skunks in, it is not just skunks but it is mostly what we see is skunks."

Graydon says it may be a bit of a nuisance to get your dog vaccinated for rabies, but it is better to be safe than sorry.