Whitman Board of Health Permanently Ends Rabies Clinic Amid Budget Cuts

WHITMAN — July 14, 2025 — Whitman's Board of Health voted Monday to permanently end its annual rabies vaccination clinic, citing budget cuts that have reshaped multiple town health programs. The June 21 clinic at the BFW parking lot — which drew residents from 21 communities and administered 90 vaccines, most within the first 90 minutes — was confirmed as the last. "It is our final rabies clinic ever," said board member Danielle Clancy. "We just cannot afford to do it any longer." The same budget pressures drove two other actions: the board rescinded the FY2026 assistant burial agent appointment of Ann Holbrook and reduced the administrative assistant's schedule by eliminating Thursday hours. The board also unanimously approved Health Agent Dan Kelly's FY2026 contract and noted that two Whitman residents were among those affected by a botulism contamination incident at a Milton aesthetic facility offering Botox treatments, which state health officials have since addressed.