Package Loss Means $80,000 Worth of Rabies Shots

SULPHUR SPRINGS — A nightmare for some staffers at a Sulphur Springs veterinary clinic. A sick unvaccinated dog bit a technician at the Bright Star Veterinary Clinic in September. The owner agreed to put the animal down, and the head was removed to test the dog for rabies. It was shipped to the state — but the package never made it. And that meant technician Heather Brinkman and two others had to get a series of rabies vaccinations. THe total cost for all three: $80,000. Brinkman says, “I have a little boy. I’m all he has. I wasn’t gonna take my life and say, ‘Okay, no, I’m not gonna get these’ — I needed to have them.” They had to make several trips to Dallas’s Parkland Hospital for the shots. Brinkman’s hoping workmen’s comp will pay.