Good news for Maine dog owners

AT the Maine Agriculture Committee's work session on Section 7 of LD 2171, the proposed legislation which would have amended the Animal Welfare law to require that puppies be vaccinated against rabies at three months instead of at six months as the law currently stands, the official word from the co-chair of the committee, representative Wendy Pieh, was: "Your testimony plus the follow-up that we have all received has made the decision that the rabies vaccination time will not be changed."

The follow-up that the committee members received comprised several hundred e-mails in opposition to the amendment - they were swamped! The response was so overwhelming that even the Director of Animal Welfare, Norma Worley, who wrote and pushed the amendment, requested that it be deleted!

Many, many thanks for responding to the action alert! Contacting the committee made a huge difference in the lives of Maine dogs, and the law will not be changed as a result.

Kris L. Christine, Founder, co-trustee, The Rabies Challenge Fund www.RabiesChallengeFund.org

Update on the Kansas rabies law:

AN article in the March 18 Wichita Eagle states that most veterinarians throughout USA now use a rabies vaccine for dogs that is guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to give immunity for three years minimum. The anomaly is that this three-year vaccine is in many areas, including Kansas, being administered yearly.

That's why Michael Nawrocki, president of the Wichita Veterinary Medical Association, calls yearly rabies vaccinations overkill. "Every animal, whether they get the one-year or the three-year vaccine, is getting the exact same vaccine; it's good for three years," Nawrocki said. If the vaccine is good for three years, why does the city of Wichita require pets to be vaccinated every year?

Kay Johnson, director of the city's department of environmental services, says irresponsible pet owners are to blame. "Until we see better compliance with vaccinations in general, I'm not inclined to relax our position on the yearly vaccine", she said.

"It's insane for dogs to go through this every year," said Christopher Hesse of College Hill Animal Hospital. "Requiring all dogs to be vaccinated annually because some people don't take their dogs in for shots is ludicrous thinking," Hesse said.

Logically, giving the compliant dogs three times the required dose is not going to make the non-compliant dogs immune, nor will it make them comply if their owners are irresponsible. All it will achieve is a higher number of the compliant dogs with vaccine-related reactions and illnesses, which could cause the good owners to become non-compliant as well.

If you would like to see the national three-year rabies protocol adopted, you can contact Kay Johnson at KJohnson@wichita.gov Phone (316) 268-8351 Fax: (316) 268-8356 Environmental Services 1900 E. 9th St. N. Wichita, KS 67214. Kansas.