Why the Rabies Vaccination is SO important...

[feminvstr]

As you all know I am a breeder and I have shipped puppies. Most states require a rabies shot when shipping a pup 12 weeks or older there are a few that are 16 weeks. I do not recommend rabies on a puppy before the age of 4-6 months preferably the later. My vet simply writes too young for rabies on the health certificate and it is accepted by all airlines. Once the pup is in his/her new family environment I strongly suggest the new family to consider their life style and chat with their vet as to what is best for the puppy. If rabies is more prevalent in their state then obviously the vet is best to make this decision and advise them accordingly.

[JCarlson2004]

There is so much debating going back and forth over this issues but you know what? I would rather be SAFE then sorry! I'd rather have my dog vaccinated against rabies then live my life knowing that I solely was responsible for my dog's death if he/she was ever attacked by a rabid animal. It would be MY fault because I made a choice -- a choice NOT to take preventative measures and vaccinate my precious pooch. Yes, we can take measures to avoid having our pets attacked by predators in the first place but hey, accidents happen and it only takes SECONDS for our dogs to be attacked. I'd at least feel secure knowing that my pet is protected should they ever come into contact with a rabid animal -- this is just my personal opinion.

[BamaFan121s]

Originally Posted by JCarlson2004

There is so much debating going back and forth over this issues but you know what? I would rather be SAFE then sorry! I'd rather have my dog vaccinated against rabies then live my life knowing that I solely was responsible for my dog's death if he/she was ever attacked by a rabid animal. It would be MY fault because I made a choice -- a choice NOT to take preventative measures and vaccinate my precious pooch. Yes, we can take measures to avoid having our pets attacked by predators in the first place but hey, accidents happen and it only takes SECONDS for our dogs to be attacked. I'd at least feel secure knowing that my pet is protected should they ever come into contact with a rabid animal -- this is just my personal opinion.

I agree with you, better to be safe that sorry...again, that is MY opinion. Not to mention that you don't expect a crazed raccoon to be on your porch (or your chimney...yes, this happened recently to someone in my area and it WAS found to be rabid). You can stay by your house and chase off wildlife, but a rabit animal, not being in it's "right mind" will not care. For me the vaccination is a neccessity.

Can we all just assume that there are risks for getting it and risk for not getting it, to each their own. Just be sure you research and do what is best for you and your dog in your own situation and leave it at that.

[DevineMissM]

Originally Posted by SoCalyorkiLvr

A government official cannot euthanize your pet just because it not current on it rabies vaccine.

I really do not know why anyone would want to take a chance with their precious Yorkie and the law UNLESS YOU KNOW THERE IS A HEALTH ISSUE! Yes the ACO and/or government can do anything they damn well please with your pet unless one is wealthy enough to hire a lawyer and QUICK enough to get into COURT to stop them. Here an actual case which happen just a few days ago in New Jersey. Very very scary. The ACO and authorities can in fact put your pet to sleep over rabies! Anyway for all to read here the actual case. This is a show breeder of Newfoundlands. I withheld her name for privacy. Newfoundlands are a very large breed. The subject of this discussion was "at what age should one vacinate their dog". Some people can argue against getting vaccination shots all they want.....but for me I'm going to keep my dogs up to date on rabies vaccination and I hope you do the same as all 50 states have laws for the protection of human beings against this terribly fatal disease! Yes a vet can exempt your animal from the rabies shot.....but by law a vet cannot and does not have the power to expempt your animal from dog bite laws. Think about that!
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rabies vaccinations
PLEASE be careful about rabies vaccinations!! I see that many don't give them until pups are 6 mos. Well, we had an experience that could have been disastrous. The two pups I kept woke me in the middle of the night to go out. I put them in their run, as the others all went, too, and they were too young to be loose with the big guys unsupervised, thank heaven! The big ones raced out, then came tearing back onto the deck. There was a raccoon which rapidly became a dead raccoon. Fortunately, I am obsessive about keeping up to date with shots, because it was rabies POSITIVE! My vet came the next morning to boost the adults and the goats, but those little ones didn't turn 12 wks for a few days. She made sure I isolated them for 2 weeks and gave them their shot the first day they could have it, at 12 wks. Even though they hadn't actually been exposed to the raccoon, the powers that be COULD have demanded they be put down, as they weren't immunized at the time. VERY SCARY! I now make sure pups get their first rabies shot on the first possible date and encourage all my puppy people to do the same. They get their 12 wk combined a few days later.
This was one of those things that you figure just can't happen. But it DOES! ACO said it would probably be OK, as he'd only had 2 rabies-positives in 5 years and the raccoon was out at night, not during the day. Everyone was shocked that it was positive!
[name withheld] [xxx] Newfoundlands
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In a message dated 1/3/06 2:05:40 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [name withheld] writes this question:
I'm sure this was a frightening and learning experience. However, wouldn't those pups have had some immunity from their Mother at that age?
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answer:
the point here isn't only whether the pups had some immunity from the mother. There are very specific laws in many states, including NJ. A dog or cat that is exposed to rabies and isn't current on its shot might be subject to a 6 month, no human contact at all, quarantine or even euthanasia. Rabies is so deadly that they don't want to take any chances with human lives. I was lucky! I know of someone who had to retain an attorney because their dog was ONE DAY overdue with its rabies shot. Apparently, it jumped on someone and scratched them, but the person decided it was a bite or scrape from a tooth. The authorities were demanding the dog be put down. This was before titers could be done. They won the case, but it cost them a fortune. [XXX] Newfoundlands

[YorkieRini]

Originally Posted by DevineMissM

I really do not know why anyone would want to take a chance with their precious Yorkie and the law UNLESS YOU KNOW THERE IS A HEALTH ISSUE! Yes the ACO and/or government can do anything they damn well please with your pet unless one is wealthy enough to hire a lawyer and QUICK enough to get into COURT to stop them. Here an actual case which happen just a few days ago in New Jersey. Very very scary. The ACO and authorities can in fact put your pet to sleep over rabies! Anyway for all to read here the actual case. This is a show breeder of Newfoundlands. I withheld her name for privacy. Newfoundlands are a very large breed. The subject of this discussion was "at what age should one vacinate their dog". Some people can argue against getting vaccination shots all they want.....but for me I'm going to keep my dogs up to date on rabies vaccination and I hope you do the same as all 50 states have laws for the protection of human beings against this terribly fatal disease! Yes a vet can exempt your animal from the rabies shot.....but by law a vet cannot and does not have the power to expempt your animal from dog bite laws. Think about that!
--------------------------------------------------
rabies vaccinations
PLEASE be careful about rabies vaccinations!! I see that many don't give them until pups are 6 mos. Well, we had an experience that could have been disastrous. The two pups I kept woke me in the middle of the night to go out. I put them in their run, as the others all went, too, and they were too young to be loose with the big guys unsupervised, thank heaven! The big ones raced out, then came tearing back onto the deck. There was a raccoon which rapidly became a dead raccoon. Fortunately, I am obsessive about keeping up to date with shots, because it was rabies POSITIVE! My vet came the next morning to boost the adults and the goats, but those little ones didn't turn 12 wks for a few days. She made sure I isolated them for 2 weeks and gave them their shot the first day they could have it, at 12 wks. Even though they hadn't actually been exposed to the raccoon, the powers that be COULD have demanded they be put down, as they weren't immunized at the time. VERY SCARY! I now make sure pups get their first rabies shot on the first possible date and encourage all my puppy people to do the same. They get their 12 wk combined a few days later.
This was one of those things that you figure just can't happen. But it DOES! ACO said it would probably be OK, as he'd only had 2 rabies-positives in 5 years and the raccoon was out at night, not during the day. Everyone was shocked that it was positive!
[name withheld] [xxx] Newfoundlands
----------------------------------------------------
In a message dated 1/3/06 2:05:40 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [name withheld] writes this question:
I'm sure this was a frightening and learning experience. However, wouldn't those pups have had some immunity from their Mother at that age?
----------------------------------------------------
answer:
the point here isn't only whether the pups had some immunity from the mother. There are very specific laws in many states, including NJ. A dog or cat that is exposed to rabies and isn't current on its shot might be subject to a 6 month, no human contact at all, quarantine or even euthanasia. Rabies is so deadly that they don't want to take any chances with human lives. I was lucky! I know of someone who had to retain an attorney because their dog was ONE DAY overdue with its rabies shot. Apparently, it jumped on someone and scratched them, but the person decided it was a bite or scrape from a tooth. The authorities were demanding the dog be put down. This was before titers could be done. They won the case, but it cost them a fortune. [XXX] Newfoundlands

Wow! I was always worried about the adverse reaction my babies will have to the vaccine. Now I'm wondering if I am making teh right decision. I always figured if one of my Yorkies got tangled with a rabid animal they wouldn't survive anyway..but what if they did?...hmm..maybe I'll start a poll..about adverse reactions to rabies Vacc..

[BamaFan121s]

[QUOTE=YorkieRiniWow! I was always worried about the adverse reaction my babies will have to the vaccine. Now I'm wondering if I am making teh right decision. I always figured if one of my Yorkies got tangled with a rabid animal they wouldn't survive anyway..but what if they did?...hmm..maybe I'll start a poll..about adverse reactions to rabies Vacc..[/QUOTE]

I am in no way trying to sway your decision, but here is a scary and VERY possible situation that happened to a friend of mine and her Jack Russell. There was an injured bat in their yard...their dog found it and was bitten. Now, the bat was killed and was NOT infected, but what if it had been. Even if you check your yard before you take out your pooch, what are the chances you won't look it over well enough to find a tiny bat? Pretty good, I would think. Their dog was fine, had a nasty bite, but that was it. Anyway, like I said, not trying to convince you otherwise, you have to do what's best for you, but you have to admit, that is a pretty scary thought.

[shelbysmom]

Originally Posted by Carters Mom

Villette:

When I've gone to the vet to get my babies' health certificate in order to fly on a plane, I was told by the vet that what the airline/admittance state is looking for is that the pup has had its rabies shot.

I know in Louisiana, rabies is a must.

Lisa

I was wondering about flying and traveling. Seems like without proof of vaccination you could be limited?

I know it's pretty rare where I live but one reason I got a small dog is so she can easily travel with us.

We spend a lot of vacation time in the mountains hiking etc. If shelby were to tangle with a racoon or a skunk...she could survive but I would hate to have to think about rabies!

[StewiesMom]

I'll be the stand alone here. Groomers, licenses and other services requiring rabies vaccines SUCKS for those of us who have yorkies that are allergic to them!

edited to say:

I think it should be OPTIONAL. I will never vaccinate another pet for rabies while living in a city. It's too dangerous and scary IMO. If you saw how my Stewie was after his vaccine, you'd probably feel the same way.

[shelbysmom]

Originally Posted by StewiesMom

I'll be the stand alone here. Groomers, licenses and other services requiring rabies vaccines SUCKS for those of us who have yorkies that are allergic to them!

edited to say:

I think it should be OPTIONAL. I will never vaccinate another pet for rabies while living in a city. It's too dangerous and scary IMO. If you saw how my Stewie was after his vaccine, you'd probably feel the same way.

I understand how you feel but that's one reason I feel the rest of us should do it. My friend has a dog that is highly allergic to all vaccinations (and everything else). Very scary. I feel like the rest of us (those whose dogs do not have reactions) need to do it to keep things safer for those that can't. If we all stopped, wouldn't rabies spread? Even to the city?

[SoCalyorkiLvr]

Originally Posted by StewiesMom

I'll be the stand alone here. Groomers, licenses and other services requiring rabies vaccines SUCKS for those of us who have yorkies that are allergic to them!

edited to say:

I think it should be OPTIONAL. I will never vaccinate another pet for rabies while living in a city. It's too dangerous and scary IMO. If you saw how my Stewie was after his vaccine, you'd probably feel the same way.

Kristy~ Get a waiver from your vet and they shouldn't have a problem. Plus, if he had one shot then just show his tags and you should be fine.

There are a lot of places that SAY they require it but I have never actually had them review it carefully. All of mine have shot records from the shots they have had but they never look closely to see if they are CURRENT.

All but Ava has had one rabies vaccine, so they have tags and licenses but they will not have another rabies...and not because of the "adverse reactions at the time ot the shot", but because there is no proof that they work in the first place, a titer can be done to see if they still have immunity under the law (hopefully this will become the law and we can stop poisoning our pets unnecessarily), and there are sooooo many side effects that occur that don't show up until later in a dog's life. It can be a nightmare as it has for so many.

I trust the studies quoted and cited by Yorkieskater about the fact that the "boosters" dull the effectiveness of the original vaccine.

I agree with BamaFan...Each pet owner has to make the decision about what is in their dog's best interests. I am doing nothing against the law since my county allows a waiver signed by a vet. I would hope that other counties with low rabies incidences would do the same.

[SoCalyorkiLvr]

Originally Posted by JCarlson2004

There is so much debating going back and forth over this issues but you know what? I would rather be SAFE then sorry! I'd rather have my dog vaccinated against rabies then live my life knowing that I solely was responsible for my dog's death if he/she was ever attacked by a rabid animal. It would be MY fault because I made a choice -- a choice NOT to take preventative measures and vaccinate my precious pooch. Yes, we can take measures to avoid having our pets attacked by predators in the first place but hey, accidents happen and it only takes SECONDS for our dogs to be attacked. I'd at least feel secure knowing that my pet is protected should they ever come into contact with a rabid animal -- this is just my personal opinion.

Not trying to be argumentative here but just for something to ponder:

What if having the vaccines actually made your dog more susceptible to getting rabies as some studies have shown?

[whispersmom2]

Our County Animal Control gives rabies shots for 5 dollars every Thursday afternoon. I do not give mine rabies before 6 months. I have seen too many severe to fatal reactions and I just cannot justify giving them to an animal that NEVER goes out into the yard and stay on a fence deck under constant supervision. Rabies scares the heck out of me-I saw a lot of it growing up in WV-but dying puppies scare me even more. Guess we all have to make the decisions we and our babies can live with..