Rabies Vaccines..

[Spiritwind]

To Vaccinate or not to vaccinate?

I know my opinion -- quite frankly my dogs are vaccinated for rabies.

I live in an area with a VERY high number of confirmed rabies cases each year. This year alone there has already been 17 confirmed (thru testing) positive rabies cases in Guilford County (North Carolina).... in Forsyth County (NC) there have been 29 confirmed cases so far this year.... Guilford and Forsyth are neighboring counties to me.... In the county I live in (Randolph county) I've been unable to get a total number of confirmed rabies cases but found a few news articles about a few confirmed rabies cases over the past year.

One story about a 5yr old girl in Randolph county who was bitten by a rabid fox. Her dad shot and killed the fox and it later tested positive for rabies, so now the whole family is getting treatment for rabies...

About 2 yrs ago when I worked at a vet clinic in Guilford Co. we had a guy bring in his dog for a rabies vaccine, who was way overdue. After the dog was dropped off animal control called looking for the dog... apparently the dog killed a raccoon that tested positive for rabies and the owner was supposed to have the dog at animal control by noon of that day..... but he never showed up.

I recently joined an e-mail list that is a anti-vaccination list.... and recently some of the people on there were talking about how they do not do rabies vaccines on their dogs, even if required by law... they said if they need to show proof they have made up certificates on their own, or in some states where you can buy rabies vaccines and give them yourself they said they just use those tags that come with the vaccines to show as proof the dogs were vaccinated.... but don't actually vaccinate their dogs.

Anyway I wrote to that e-mail list with a question on whether they would vaccinate their animals for rabies if they lived in an area much like mine with a high number of confirmed rabies cases each year... and posted the stories that I have above in this message.... today I got a private e-mail from someone on the list basicly telling me I'm making these stories up and there are to many holes in my story for it to be true blah blah blah.... when everything I posted was 100% truthful and I could prove it with the online news reports....apparently they don't live in an area with rabies!!

I know in my area if your dog is over due on rabies or you don't have proof of vaccination and something happens... its bitten by a rabid animal or it bites another animal or person because of the number of rabies cases in this area, animal control will take your dog and ask questions later....

So whats your opinion???....

[wolf_Q]

My dogs (with the exception of Skya as she's not old enough for the shot) are all current on rabies shots. What I have been doing is getting them all of the puppy shots then the booster the next year...after that mostly just rabies shots. It doesn't seem with current studies that the other vaccinations are needed yearly like most vets do. Nebo and Keva both have had 3 year rabies shots, so they are good for a while. We don't have a high concern for dogs getting rabies here (at least that I'm aware of) but I do go hiking/camping often so there's a chance. It's mostly the legal issues I'm concerned with, not that I think my dogs would bite anyone but you never know, like if there was a dog fight and somebody tried to break it up or something and got bit. I know (because I went to the ER from a cat bite that happened at my work) that if you get medical attention from a wound inflicted by an animal the hospital is required to call the police and report it. The cat that bit me did not have a current rabies shot so I had to give them the owner's name/info and I'm sure they received a visit from animal control...I believe the cat had to be quarantined too.

[shepgirl]

I'm not Anti Rabies and I don't belong or join anti rabies groups. But we do live in the country and we have had 3 years of scares with rabid animals here but I still preferred to not vaccinate because of the side effects. We had a fox in the yard with my horses, never went near them, would sit and watch, not afraid of the dogs either, but would walk away slowly, giving us time to snap pictures. Never found out if it did have rabies, it just stopped coming around as spring wore on. Our dog yard is totally fence in, no way for anything to get in except a bat, not many asround here luckily. I don't do any shots - but I don't advise others as to what they should do - this is just my choice. Most people here still put great faith in the shots and that's fine by me, Ijust don't want them. In over 15 yrs, I haven't had one sick dog.

[K9karen]

We have groundhogs, racoons, skunks, moles, squirrels, and some neighbors saw a red fox, so I've always had my dogs vaccinated for rabies. Mz Logan is on the 3 year rabies shot.

I've had the rabies shots regimen and they're not as painful or awful as they were years ago. You get them in the arm or leg muscle. Better be safe than sorry for pets and humans. It's not worth the consequences.

[Spiritwind]

My dogs (with the exception of Skya as she's not old enough for the shot) are all current on rabies shots. What I have been doing is getting them all of the puppy shots then the booster the next year...after that mostly just rabies shots. It doesn't seem with current studies that the other vaccinations are needed yearly like most vets do. Nebo and Keva both have had 3 year rabies shots, so they are good for a while.

I agree! I've started to not do "yaerly" shots as well... just puppy shots and a boster 1 yr later and thats pretty much it... besides rabies every 3yrs. I agree with you on the rabies as well! Its basicly a legal issue for me too... because of the high number of rabies cases each year in this area, animal control is VERY strict about rabies vaccines... and if something were to happen I don't want my dogs taken away from me. Down here even if you are bitten by a dog that is current on rabies they still are required to be quarintined for 10 days -- which I found out when a friend of mine got bit by a dog at work (vet clinic) a couple years ago!...

I'm not Anti Rabies and I don't belong or join anti rabies groups. But we do live in the country and we have had 3 years of scares with rabid animals here but I still preferred to not vaccinate because of the side effects. We had a fox in the yard with my horses, never went near them, would sit and watch, not afraid of the dogs either, but would walk away slowly, giving us time to snap pictures. Never found out if it did have rabies, it just stopped coming around as spring wore on. Our dog yard is totally fence in, no way for anything to get in except a bat, not many asround here luckily. I don't do any shots - but I don't advise others as to what they should do - this is just my choice. Most people here still put great faith in the shots and that's fine by me, Ijust don't want them. In over 15 yrs, I haven't had one sick dog.

Well the list I joined is "Just Say No To Vaccines" its not really anti rabies as much agaist all vaccinations... they also talk about non-chemical dewormers (diatomaceous earth) etc... and more natural ways to treat animals for things...

As far as rabies.. the side effects worry me as well, but I would be just as worried if I didn't do rabies vaccines with my dogs because of the area I am in. THe dogs are in a fenced area MOST of the time they are outside, but not always... I have 17 acres of mostly wooded, rocky, hilly terrain for the dogs to run in... very little of it is yard and we go hiking in the woods a lot!... as far as the annual shots, I do not do yearly shots anymore either!... but do do the puppy series (but not everything - no lepto or corona)...

Earlier this spring I too saw a couple foxes.. I havent' seen them in several months. THe dogs were in teh back of their fenced yard looking into the woods barking so I went to check and there was a fox just slowly walking thru the woods.. the dogs didnt' seem to scare him and neither did I when I came to the back of the fence to see what he dogs were barking at.... the fox would walk for a while.... then just stop and look around, sniff the ground and finally he walked out of sight.... then a few weeks later we saw 2 more foxes coming out of the woods down at the bottom of my driveway....

It is hard to find a vet in the area who will treat your dog without a rabies vaccine! If you don't have proof of rabies vaccinations they won't treat the dog unless they give them a rabies vaccine first.....

[cali]

I am against overvaccinating, and I vaccinate my dogs for Parvo at 16 weeks and that it for life. no rabies. now I am not opposed to it, I will vaccite my dogs for Rabies if I feel the situation calls for it. for me it is not black and white because I have seen BOTH side of the debate first hand. I have had a dog that had a severe reaction to the rabies vaccine, but I have also had a dog who's life was saved because she had the vaccine. because of this I weigh the pros and cons on the vaccine for the indivdual dog, and not as a whole.

[Twisterdog]

Having a current rabies vaccination is the law here. If your dog, cat or ferret is picked up by animal control, and does not have a current rabies vaccination, they will, at the very least, not let you take your pet home until you get the vaccination. ANY animal that bites someone is automatically euthanized if it does not have a current rabies vaccination.

Rabies is a real presence around here. Every year there are rabid animals ... foxes, raccoons, etc. Several years ago a BULL was found to be rabid. That's a scary thought. Another thing to think about is the fact that bats carry the rabies virus frequently ... and they fly, so it doesn't matter if you have a securely fenced yard of not.

One of my employees was bitten by a feral cat. She went to the emergency room for stitches. The cat could not be found, so she had to have the series of rabies shots. Incredibly painful and expensive.

All of my dogs have current rabies vaccinations, and always will. Not worth the risk not to, IMO.

[GSDOG]

I live in Oregon and i work in a veterinary clinic and the law here is if your animal..cat or dog, bites someone it will either be euthanized or quarrantined. our main vector for rabies is bats, and we have a number of cases in oregon this year of rabies in bats . an indoor only cat had to be euthanized. the bat got in the house and the cat killed it. no rabies vac because the owner didnt think it was needed. and the whole family had to have shots. we always let people know about the bats if they say they dont want to get the vaccine and everyone i have given the info to has said ok to the vaccine. I also worked with a vet a few years ago who used to live in Alaska, he said there was an island that some people were using to raise Malamutes and they figured it was an island and there was no way any of the dogs would be exposed to distemper on the island because there wasnt anything there. well a fox decided to hitch a ride..probably on a piece of ice to the island and all the dogs died of distemper!!!

[pomtzu]

I was under the impression that it was the law in every U.S. state, that dogs and cats had to be vaccinated against rabies. It is here in Delaware, and if you live in an area that requires a dog license, you can't get one without proof of vaccination. The same holds true for boarding and grooming facilities - they won't take an animal that is not up to date on all vaccines. I recently had an issue with a cat that didn't have a record of rabies vaccine. He was a resident stray that I had been feeding on and off for about 5 years and he sustained an injury (looked like a bite on his leg) and I took him to the vet for treatment. No proof of rabies shot - he would have had to be cage quarrantined for 6 months and I was left with only that option and that of euthanasia. There was no way I could cage him for 6 months so he had to be PTS without knowing if it was a bite from a rabid animal or not - but I doubt it was. Then law required that the vet report it and subsequently I was served with a summons by Animal Control for failure to vaccinate MY cat - which he wasn't really MINE to start with. I took it to court - pleaded not guilty - and fortunately the animal control officer was a rookie and didn't properly present the case - (he neglected to specify the county the "offense" occured in) - and it was dismissed on a technicality.
Both my dogs and 2 indoor only cats have up to date shots.

[boomersooner]

I've always kept my dogs up to date on their shots.....especially rabies...Boomer is still on puppy shots but Cassie is on the 3 year. To my knowledge, they've never had any sort of reaction. We live pretty close to a creek, and I've seen raccoons, skunks, opossums, and, of course, squirrels....I would rather have the peace of mind...I am not really sure if it is the "law" around here or not, but I'm sure animal control would be more apt to put the dog down or something if they didn't have the shot.

[Spiritwind]

I was under the impression that it was the law in every U.S. state, that dogs and cats had to be vaccinated against rabies. It is here in Delaware, and if you live in an area that requires a dog license, you can't get one without proof of vaccination. The same holds true for boarding and grooming facilities - they won't take an animal that is not up to date on all vaccines.

To my knowledge it is law in every state (except Hawaii - as they don't have rabies on the island) that all dogs and cats had to be up to date on rabies as well.... but apparently the people on this e-mail list I joined don't care about the law.... I'd have to go back and read the e-mails again but basicly several people on the list said they some how are able to make fake certificates copied and editted from old rab. vac. certs. to use in case they would need to show proof... because they say there is enough scientific proof that a rabies vaccine can give immunity for up to 9yrs... but this isn't what the law says right now so I'd rather not take the chance something would happen and have animal control come and take my dog away because it wasn't up to date... especially when you live in an area like I do where there are a large number of confirmed rabies cases each year in wildlife... and on occasion in pets....

Now I do believe in some states rabies vaccines are only good for 1 yr.. and others 3yrs....

[pomtzu]

basicly several people on the list said they some how are able to make fake certificates copied and editted from old rab. vac. certs. to use in case they would need to show proof...

Too bad that they don't have to produce the metal tag that is stamped with the date and certificate number as well as the piece of forged paper. That would make it a lot more difficult to produce fakes. I wonder if they realize what a potentially dangerous game they're playing?

[Spiritwind]

Too bad that they don't have to produce the metal tag that is stamped with the date and certificate number as well as the piece of forged paper. That would make it a lot more difficult to produce fakes. I wonder if they realize what a potentially dangerous game they're playing?

Oh I totally agree! Thats why I thought I'd post the question here and see what everyone elses opinion is... especially after I got the private e-mail from one member of that e-mail list basicly telling me I was making up the story and there were to many holes in the story for it to be true.... until I backed it up with actual online news reports from one of the local Fox news stations.

Forsyth Co. North Carolina confirmed rabies cases for 2008

Health Department Announces 17th Rabies Case in Guilford Co. North Carolina

Randolph Co. NC Family Undergoes Rabies Treatment After Rabid Fox Attack

Level Cross (Randolph Co. NC)Rabid Fox Killed By Family Dog

Winston-Salem (Forsyth Co.) Possibly Rabid Fox Chases, Bites Two People

I don't live in an area that requires county dog license right now, but when I lived in Ohio we did have to get county dog tags each year, but they never checked a rabies certificate before you could get the dog tags... you could get them either at the court house or at the feed mill, just had to show them your renewal certificate for the tags pay the fee ($10 per tag) and you were good to go for a year...

[shepgirl]

We do have a 4 yr. law for rabies here, I just don't bother with it, My dogs are never out alone, we live on acreage also and they hike the trails every day. I still won't take the chance of the side effects from those shots. In all these years the only time I did have a sick dog as after the rabies shot and I almost lost my dog so it put me off shots forever.
I don't worry about my dogs biting, they are all therapy and have CGN and are non aggressive. The animal control here couldn't be bothered checking up on stuff like that, my vet knows where I stand on shots and if I ever did need care for my animals she would never refuse me.
I'm following the increase on autism and the controversy surrounding shots being the cause also helped me make my decision.
There has and still is much talk about the chicken pox vaccine being the cause of many cases of multiple sclerosis also....darned if we do and darned if we don't.

[pomtzu]

WOW!!! That's a lot of rabies cases! I live in a rural/farm area and we have some here - mostly in fox and racoon - but not that many. That's why I always make sure my guys are vaccinated - just in case. And Delaware is super strict about it - maybe that's why we don't have a lot of cases.
Years ago I had 3 Lhasas and one nipped my granddaughter - she was just a little tyke at the time and she starteled him awake out of a sound sleep. Of course she got taken to the doctor just to have it checked, and the doctor reported the incident. The dog was less than 2 weeks overdue for his rabies shot so he got quarantined (house arrest as I called it ) by the state for 45 days and could go nowhere except in the yard with my supervision and to the vet for his overdue shot. Since then I have always made sure my guys get to the vet BEFORE they are due (every 3 years here).