More than 7,000 unwanted horses to receive donated rabies vaccine

Roseland, N.J.

-- Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health is donating 7,250 doses of EquiRab rabies vaccine to 150 equine rescue and retirement facilities nationwide, through the Unwanted Horse Veterinary Relief Campaign (UHVRC) in honor of the recent World Rabies Day.

The company previously donated rabies vaccine to the Afya Serengeti project to vaccinate dogs in Tanzania, where rabies is highly prevalent. It has donated more than 900,000 doses there since 2003.

UHVRC was established by Intervet/Shering-Plough Animal Health and the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) in 2008 and became effective in January 2009. Through it core vaccines are donated to qualifying equine rescue and retirement facilities that submit an application, work with an AAEP-member veterinarian and have a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. They must follow the AAEP's "Care Guidelines for Equine Rescue and Retirement Facilities."

So far, UHVRC has provided core vaccines for more than 1,500 rescued horses, the company says. The three core vaccines available through the program are PreveNile West Nile virus vaccine; EquiRab rabies vaccine; and Prestige V (KY93, KY02 and NM2/93 flu strains, EHV-1, EHV-4, EEE, WEE and tetanus).