Hall County will be offering rabies shots and microchips for pets at reduced prices Saturday at the Chicopee Woods Agricultural Center.

"They’re both great things for your pets," said shelter veterinarian Meghan Seabolt.

The rabies and microchip clinic will be from 12:30 to 4 p.m. Rabies shots are $10, microchip and registration is $20 or both is $25.

Adoption Specialist Gwen Trimmer said at a private veterinary clinic, a rabies shot would cost at least $15 and a microchip would cost around $40 with an additional fee for registration.

"We’re doing it as a service to the community; times are hard for everybody," Trimmer said. "We’re trying to keep it as reasonable as possible."

A microchip is a small device containing contact information that is implanted beneath an animal’s skin. If a lost pet is brought in to an animal shelter or veterinary office, it is scanned with a device to find information about its owner.

"We have so many animals we bring in everyday that we don’t know who the owners are and undoubtedly a lot of these animals are probably being sought out by their owners," Seabolt said. "If we could just scan them, which is such a simple process, we could track them back to their owners through a nationwide data base."

A rabies shot is not only beneficial to a pet’s health, but required by law.

"It is essential," Trimmer said. "It’s the one shot required by the state of Georgia."

Rabies shots are especially important for Hall County pets because of the high number of confirmed cases of the disease in the area in recent years.

There have been 18 confirmed cases of rabies so far in 2009 and there were 43 confirmed cases in 2008, by far the most ever reported in Hall County. In a typical year, fewer than a dozen cases are recorded.

"There is no cure for rabies but it’s preventable with a vaccine," Seabolt said. "It is such a fatal disease."

The animal shelter hopes to put on more rabies and microchip events throughout the year.

"It’s a way to make it convenient for people," Trimmer said.