Rabies tags not always trackable

By law, all rabies tag information is sent from veterinarians to county animal control departments. But look in a back office at Wake County Animal Control, and you can see where part of the problem is: Animal Control receives 90,000 rabies documents a year.

For a while, there was someone on staff who focused on organizing rabies forms.

"They moved that position to the sheriff's department,” Williams said.

Williams says Animal Control is not required by law to keep a database.

In recent weeks, SPCA officials say two dogs with rabies tags could not be tracked. They recommend labeling your pets in other ways, such as with identification tags or implanted micro chips.