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MAINE RABIES LAW--Action Alert!



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 18th 08, 05:12 PM
Kris L. Christine Kris L. Christine is offline
Senior Member
 
First recorded activity by DogBanter: Feb 2008
Location: The Rabies Challenge Fund
Posts: 281
Exclamation MAINE RABIES LAW--Action Alert!

Greetings!

The Maine Director of Animal Welfare, Norma Worley, is trying to change the rabies immunization requirement for puppies from 6 months to 3 months despite the fact that Maine hasn't had a documented case of a rabid dog since 2003 and there have only been 5 documented cases since 1994 (14 years), and none of them were noted as being puppies.

Please read the testimony I presented in opposition to Section 7 of LD 2171 at yesterday's hearing before Maine's Agriculture Committee. If you are concerned about this and wish to voice your opposition, PLEASE e-MAIL THE COMMITTEE members by cutting and pasting their addresses below and putting something like Oppose LD 2171 Section 7 in your subject line.

The committee wants to hear from the dog-owning public, and if it doesn't, you may end up being required to add a rabies vaccine into the mix of puppyhood shots (distemper, hepatitis, parvo, etc..) that are being administered at that age.

PERMISSION IS GRANTED TO POST AND CROSS-POST THIS MESSAGE!

Kris L. Christine

Duration of Immunity to Canine Vaccines: What We Know and Don't Know, Dr. Ronald Schultz Duration of Immunity

The 2003 American Animal Hospital Association's Canine Vaccine Guidelines are accessible online at Special Report .

The 2006 American Animal Hospital Association's Canine Vaccine Guidelines are downloadable in PDF format at About AAHA .

Veterinarian, Dr. Robert Rogers,has an excellent presentation on veterinary vaccines at Home.

----- Original Message -----
From: Kris Christine
To: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 10:47 AM
Subject: LD 2171--My Testimony

Greetings!

Below is a copy of the testimony I will present today.

Regards, Kris L. Christine

February 11, 2008

TO: The Agriculture, Conservation and Forest Committee

LD 2171, An Act To Amend the Animal Welfare Laws

My name is Kris Christine and I live with my family in Alna, Maine. I am the Founder and Co-Trustee of The Rabies Challenge Fund (RCF). My colleagues -- Dr. W. Jean Dodds of Hemopet, Co-Trustee of the RCF and Dr. Ronald Schultz of The University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, currently conducting 5 & 7 year rabies challenge studies for the RCF -- are the world’s two leading veterinary vaccine research scientists.

I am here to testify against Sec. 7. 7 MRSA §3916, sub-§1-A of LD 2171, which would amend the law to require that puppies be vaccinated against rabies at 3 months of age rather than 6.

There is no scientific or epidemiological data justifying amendment of this law as there has been no increase in rabies in puppies under the age of 6 months in the State of Maine. Dr. Donald Hoenig, Maine’s State Public Health Veterinarian, told me on Wednesday, February 6th that “The last case of canine rabies in Maine was in 2003.......there have only been 5 cases of canine rabies in the past 14 years in Maine…….Cases of canine rabies are EXTREMELY UNUSUAL.”

Five cases of rabies in dogs since 1994 (no mention was made of these cases being puppies under 6 months of age), with the last one being in 2003, evidences the fact that the current law requiring puppies be vaccinated against rabies at 6 months of age is effective at controlling rabies in Maine’s canine community and does not need to be changed.

Vaccinating puppies at too young an age can be ineffective. The 2003 American Animal Hospital Association's (AAHA) Canine Vaccine Guidelines reports on Page 17 (Attachment #1) that: “…when puppies are first vaccinated at 16 weeks of age (an age when passively acquired antibodies generally don’t cause interference), one dose of an MLV vaccine, or two doses of a killed vaccine, are adequate to stimulate an immune response.”

On Page 16 of the 2003 AAHA Guidelines (Attachment #2), it states that: "When vaccinating an animal, the age of the animal, the animal's immune status, and interference by maternal antibodies in the development of immunity must be considered. Research has demonstrated that the presence of passively acquired maternal antibodies interferes with the immune response to many canine vaccines, including CPV, CDV, CAV-2 and rabies vaccines."

The 2006 AAHA Guidelines (Attachment #3), states on Page 13 as the most common reason for vaccination failure that “the puppy has a sufficient amount of passively acquired maternal antibody (PAMA) to block the vaccine......" The older the puppy is when it receives its first rabies vaccination, the more likely it will elicit the desired immunological response – as demonstrated by the extraordinarily low number of canine rabies cases in Maine over a 14 year period under the current 6 month vaccination protocol for puppies.

Rabies, a “killed” vaccine, is the most potent of the veterinary vaccines and is associated with clinically significant adverse reactions -- it should only be given when warranted. According to the 2003AAHA Guidelines (Page 16) (Attachment #2), "...killed vaccines are much more likely to cause hypersensitivity reactions (e.g., immune-mediated disease)." Further, the AAHA task force reports on Page 18 (Attachment #4) that, "Bacterial vaccines, especially killed whole organism products …..are much more likely to cause adverse reactions than subunit or live bacterial vaccines or MLV vaccines, especially if given topically. Several killed bacterial products are used as immunomodulators/adjuvants. Thus, their presence in a combination vaccine product may enhance or suppress the immune response or may cause an undesired response (e.g., IgE hypersensitivity or a class of antibody that is not protective)."

Adverse reactions such autoimmune diseases affecting the thyroid, joints, blood, eyes, skin, kidney, liver, bowel and central nervous system; anaphylactic shock; aggression; seizures; epilepsy; and fibrosarcomas at injection sites are linked to rabies vaccinations.

In sum, the law, as it currently stands requiring puppies to be vaccinated at 6 months of age is and has been effective at controlling rabies in Maine’s canine population. There is no epidemiological or scientific rationale for changing this law and prematurely exposing puppies to the potentially harmful, sometimes fatal, adverse side affects of the rabies vaccine prior to the age of 6 months.

Respectfully submitted,
Kris L. Christine
Founder, Co-Trustee
THE RABIES CHALLENGE FUND
www.RabiesChallengeFund.org
Attachments
  #2  
Old February 18th 08, 09:31 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.health
buglady
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 863
Default MAINE RABIES LAW--Action Alert!


"Kris L. Christine" wrote in
message ...

Greetings!

The *Maine *Director of Animal Welfare, Norma Worley, is trying to
change the rabies immunization requirement for puppies from 6 months to
3 months


..........good on ya. What brainless nimrod came up with this idea?

buglady
take out the dog before replying


  #3  
Old February 19th 08, 01:54 PM
Kris L. Christine Kris L. Christine is offline
Senior Member
 
First recorded activity by DogBanter: Feb 2008
Location: The Rabies Challenge Fund
Posts: 281
Exclamation

Buglady,

The same Director of Animal Welfare, Norma Worley wanted to introduce legislation in 2004 that would have made it a CRIMINAL or civil violation to be late boostering dogs & cats for rabies! Scary, isn't it? See her message below which was sent during the amendment of the 2 year canine rabies immunization regulation to 3 year, which I successfully petitioned the state to change.

Kris

----- Original Message -----
From: Worley, Norma J
To: Haines, Philip W. ; Doak, Shelley ; ' ; 'Lousie Lester (E-mail)' ; Gensheimer, Kathleen F. ; Gholson, Robert ; Mosher, Peter ; Fraser, Christine ; Hoenig, Donald E ; 'Bill Bryant (E-mail)'
Cc: 'Peter & Kris Christine' ; Mills, Dora A. ; Gauvreau, Paul
Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 3:44 PM
Subject: First Draft of amended rule


Phil,
I like the look of this rule! I am considering drafting legislation that
would make it a criminal or civil violation not to have a current rabies
vaccination for dogs and cats. This way if the owner does allow the rabies
vaccination to expire after licensing the dog it would be a separate offense
and the owner could be summons to court.


What's everyone's thought on this?
njw

Norma J. Worley
Director
Animal Welfare Program
28 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0028
(207) 287-3846

Last edited by Kris L. Christine : February 19th 08 at 01:58 PM.
  #4  
Old February 20th 08, 03:11 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.health
buglady
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 863
Default MAINE RABIES LAW--Action Alert!


"Kris L. Christine" wrote in
message ...
The same Director of Animal Welfare, Norma Worley wanted to introduce
legislation in 2004 that would have made it a *CRIMINAL* or civil
violation to be late boostering dogs & cats for rabies! Scary, isn't
it?


........Hmmmmm, she hired or elected? Maybe she can be unelected. Seems
there's more and more of these petty dictators wanting to turn everything
into a criminal event..........they're trying to do that with code
enforcement violations. Around here they can tow a car out of a driveway
which has been sitting for a while (even though the tires aren't all flat
and it's not so obviously a JUNK car) if it does not have current
registration. The world's gone mad. I'd like to move out of Flori-duh, but
there are places I won't move - those with idiotic state legislation like
breed bans and that idiotic legislation in CA regarding spay/neuter timing.

......anyway, I honor you for your actions!

buglady
take out the dog before replying


  #5  
Old February 21st 08, 03:35 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.health
Sharon Too
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 664
Default MAINE RABIES LAW--Action Alert!

The *Maine *Director of Animal Welfare, Norma Worley, is trying to
change the rabies immunization requirement for puppies from 6 months to
3 months...


Ridiculous. The cases of dog with rabies is miniscule compared to those with
lepto that have given it to vet healthcare workers or family members. Or
parasites that have traveled to the family members, or......


 




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