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14 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday July 20, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Oakville falls within rabies vaccine baiting area By David Lea VISIT THE HOME DEPOT STORE NEAR YOU TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS GREAT OFFER! BEGINNING THURSDAY JULY 19, 2007 OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF NO PST applies on all *Purchased between July 19, 2007 ­ July 20, 2008. ENERGY STAR ® RATED MAJOR APPLIANCES*, DEHUMIDIFIERS, ROOM AIR CONDITIONERS AND CFL LIGHT BULBS Major appliances include: refrigerators, dishwashers, clothes washers and freezers. See Store Associate or Special Services Desk for details or visit homedepot.ca Valid in Ontario stores only. ©2007 HOMER TLC, Inc. #23025 Oakville residents living east of Sixteen-Mile Creek may start finding small khaki green pellets stamped with the words DO NOT EAT. This is important advice for people to heed -- on behalf of themselves, their children and pets -- as more than likely they have come across one of more than 750,000 wildlife vaccine baits distributed across Ontario by the McGuinty government in a bid to eradicate rabies. Dropped by the air or delivered by hand, the baits, made up of fat and wax, are designed to stop the spread of rabies before it starts by vaccinating would-be carriers such as foxes, skunks and raccoons. The seemingly random distribution of the vaccine baits has a purpose. "We use an area that is about 50 km from the known location of a certain case," said Adam McAllister, a Ministry of Natural Resources Communications Officer "We have a very effective vaccine to deal with the disease in foxes, however, up until last year we didn't have a vaccine that worked well in skunks, in fact there wasn't one anywhere." Adam McAllister, Ministry of Natural Resources Communications Officer involved in rabies research. "In this case there were a few rabies cases last year in the Bolton area so we drew some lines around that and figured okay where do we have to bait in order to know that we've done due diligence and we've contained the disease." Sixteen-Mile Creek in Oakville is the most western point of this extensive perimeter. In the GTA, the MNR has targeted ravine areas for vaccine bait distribution, as they know animals will use these spaces to move to and from water. Besides strategic distribu- tion, the MNR is using a secret weapon this year that could go a long way to making the dream of a rabies-free Ontario a reality. "We have a very effective vaccine to deal with the disease in foxes, however, up until last year we didn't have a vaccine that worked well in skunks, in fact there wasn't one anywhere," said McAllister. "So after about 17 years worth of research we finally received approval from the federal government to try our new vaccine that works on all three of the major rabies vector species (carriers) fox, skunk and raccoon." McAllister says this is particularly important because of the 40 land-bound animals found with rabies in Ontario last year the vast majority were skunks. The Province of Ontario plans to put a stop to these cases by dropping 400,000 baits containing the new vaccine in parts of Grey, Dufferin and Wellington Counties in southwestern Ontario. See No page 15 LANDO LIGHTING GALLERIES Brian and Paul Whitelaw invites you to view Canada's selection of outdoor lighting. Choose from hundreds of designs in lamp posts, post lights, coach lamps, and garden lights on sale now for a limited time only ! Brian Whitelaw C H O O S E F RO M OV E R 6 , 0 0 0 L I G H T I N G F I XT U R E S THE OUTDOORS GREAT SALE G A L L E R ALL EXTERIOR LIGHTING FIXTURES 2O%OFF CEILING FANS FROM $99.95 LIGHTING LIGHTING In Brampton I E S SCHONBEK, ARTCRAFT, SNOC, MURRAY FEISS, HINKLEY, SAVOY, WILSHIRE, QUOIZEL OUR COMPLETE COLLECTION 2O%OFF LANDSCAPE PAT H WAY L I G H T S FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED, SERVING ONTARIO RESIDENTS FOR OVER 29 YEARS. TELEPHONE ORDERS WELCOME, WE'LL SHIP ANYWHERE! STORE HOURS: MON.-WED. 9 :30AM-5:30PM THURS 9 :30AM-9:00PM FRI. 9 :30AM-6:00PM SAT. 9 :30AM-5:00PM SUN. NOON-4:00PM 210 CLARENCE ST., BRAMPTON ( 905)453-6403 ( 905)453-9881 www.landolighting.ca CANADA'S LARGEST LIGHTING SELECTION!