Many of you know my opinions about over vaccination in companion animals and my support for The Rabies Challenge Fund. As a native Californian, although I no longer reside in my beautiful home state, I still care about my many wonderful clients there and their beloved animal companions. There have been some recent changes to the laws in California regarding rabies exemption for dogs with compromised health for whom a rabies vaccination could cause permanent damage to their immune systems or even possibly be fatal. The change requires these dogs be kept in quarantine until they are well enough to be vaccinated for rabies. Will a dog with cancer, once in remission, ever have an immune system that could handle a rabies vaccination? Would that dog be required to be in quarantine for the rest of it’s life?
What about a situation like the one I faced years ago with my beloved dog Kaya who had terminal cancer and a rabies waiver and who because of the quality of her life (it was easily sustained) I chose (honoring her wishes) to allow her to live out her life to natural completion. With this new law would that have meant we would have had to make the choice to have her spend her final days in quarantine away from her loving family or euthanize her to avoid that even though she was not ready to leave? I feel this new legislation is a sad, sad mistake (Kaya certainly would have) and those at The Rabies Challenge Fund agree.
If you haven’t heard of The Rabies Challenge Fund, you should definitely check them out as they are doing some very important work for our beloved animal companions. They have been doing research for a number of years and are finding that an animal who has been vaccinated once for rabies retains immunity for the rest of it’s life.
You can also find The Rabies Challenge Fund on Facebook. There you can find out even more on this subject and make a comment or fan (I know it’s “like” now, but I still prefer “fan”) their page and let your other Facebook friends know about all they do. Here is the piece from their site about this legislation with some ways you can take action. Please think seriously about doing just that as it could save the life of an animal you know . . .
NOTICE: CALIFORNIA DOG OWNERS
On 12/21/09 Dr. Ben Sun (916) 552-9744, Interim Chief of California’s Veterinary Public Health Section, designated ALL COUNTIES in California as “rabies areas”
The declaration states: “The Director of the Department of Public Health has declared all counties in California as ‘rabies areas’ in 2010. This declaration is based on the ongoing cyclic nature of rabies in California wildlife, and the resulting threat of exposure to domestic animals, livestock, and humans.”
An April 5, 2010 amendment to AB2000 which seeks to add a medical exemption clause for sick dogs in designated “rabies areas,” would included the following language:
“(2) A dog exempt from the canine antirabies vaccination shall be kept quarantined as directed by the local health officer, until thedog’s medical condition has resolved and the administration of the canine antirabies vaccine occurs.”
This bill is currently in the Senate Rules Committee for consideration. The phone number for the California Senate Rules Committee is (916) 651-4120 and the Chair of the Committee is Senator Darrell Steinberg e-mail: Senator.Steinberg@senate.ca.gov Phone: (916) 651-4006
Under current law, the Department of Public Health is authorized to require annual rabies vaccinations in designated “rabies areas,” which includes ALL counties in California for 2010. With the passage of AB2000 as amended on April 5th, dogs with medical exemptions would be required to be quarantined, which could be in an off-site pound or facility as determined by the local health officer, until their medical condition resolves or they are given a rabies vaccine.
