Rabies Vaccines..

[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).