Pet Owners in Rhode Island led by Jani Wolstenholme have initiated a legislative effort to change the state's 2 year rabies booster law to the national 3 year standard (see below).
What You Can Do to Help:
Contact your legislator and ask them to introduce a bill changing the 2 year booster requirement to conform to the 3 year protocol recommended by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians Rabies Compendium and ask your pet-owning friends to do the same.
Rhode Island General Assembly: The State of Rhode Island General Assembly A full e-mail list of Rhode Island's Senators and Representatives is at the bottom of this post.
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Sen. Paiva-Weed:
Dear Mrs. Paiva-Weed,
I live on Malbone Road in Newport. There is a small group of concerned dog/pet owners, which includes a veterinarian, here in the state who are worried about having to vaccinate our pets with the rabies vaccine too often. Right now we are required by law to have our dogs and cats vaccinated every two years. In order to get a dog license in Newport, we must have proof of vaccination. Studies done by several veterinary research programs have proven that titers run even seven years after a rabies vaccine show antibodies in the dog's system. Vaccine companies state on their vials that the vaccine should be given every 1,095 days (3 years), which clearly goes against what the state of Rhode Island's law recommends. This not only forces owners to pay more out of pocket every two years, but it endangers the pet by over-vaccination. Our law is contrary to the recommendations of the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV) and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and is counter to the inoculation instructions of the vaccine manufacturers. In fact, in its Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control, 2003, the AVMA and NASPHV committee state under Part I B (3): "There are no laboratory or epidemiologic data to support the annual or biennial administration of 3-year vaccines following the initial series." .
In its Principles of Vaccination (2001), the AVMA concluded that:
Unnecessary stimulation of the immune system does not result in enhanced disease resistance, and may increase the risk of adverse post-vaccination events.
Having seen a close friend's older dog die within 2 weeks of rabies re-vaccination, which shut down her immune system, I don't want to put my own dog through that potential danger.
We are hoping that you will help us get this law updated. Just this past month, Arkansas changed their protocol to three years, as did Wyoming late last year. At the present time, Massachusetts has a law that states "by intervals recommended by the manufacturer", and Connecticut law is for vaccination every three years, so we would be just updating our law to correspond with our neighboring states.
Can we count on your help? Or can you recommend what we can do to rectify this situation?
Thank you for your consideration,
Respectfully,
Jani Wolstenholme
E-mails of all members of Rhode Island General Assembly sen-goodwin@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-pichardo@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-perry@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-ruggerio@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-jabour@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-metts@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-ciccone@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-doyle@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-pinga@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-felag@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-levesque@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-dipalma@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-paivaweed@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-daponte@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-mcburney@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-crowley@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-eoneill@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-devall@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-connors@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-picard@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-blais@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-tassoni@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-fogarty@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-cote@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-maselli@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-lanzi@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-gallo@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-miller@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-mccaffrey@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-walaska@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-lynch@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-bates@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-raptakis@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-maher@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-lenihan@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-sheehan@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-sosnowski@rilin.state.ri.us;
sen-algiere@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-ajello@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-almeida@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-azzinaro@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-baldellihunt@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-brien@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-caprio@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-carnevale@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-carter@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-ecoderre@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-corvese@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-costantino@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-dasilva@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-dennigan@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-desimone@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-diaz@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-driver@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-edwards@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-ehrhardt@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-fellela@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-ferri@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-fierro@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-flaherty@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-fox@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-gablinske@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-gallison@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-gemma@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-giannini@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-guthrie@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-handy@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-hearn@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-jackson@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-jacquard@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-kennedy@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-kilmartin@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-lally@rilin.state.ri.us; ;
rep-lima@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-loughlin@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-macbeth@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-malik@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-marcello@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-martin@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-mattiello@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-mccauley@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-mcnamara@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-melo@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-menard@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-murphy@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-naughton@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-newberry@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-oneill@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-pacheco@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-palumbo@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-petrarca@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-pollard@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-mrice@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-rice@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-ruggiero@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-sanbento@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-savage@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-schadone@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-segal@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-serpa@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-shallcrosssmith@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-silva@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-slater@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-smith@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-story@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-sullivan@rilin.state.ri.us;
reptrillo@aol.com;
rep-ucci@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-vaudreuil@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-walsh@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-wasylyk@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-watson@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-williams@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-williamson@rilin.state.ri.us;
rep-winfield@rilin.state.ri.us