CORRECTION: It has just been brought to our attention that a Colorado medical exemption was actually passed in 2008 and became effective on July 1, 2008. On January 19, 2010 substantial revisions were made to the rules and regulations, which became effective March 2, 2010
CALIFORNIA Rabies Bill AB 272 ACTION ALERT
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URGENT ACTION ALERT: CALIFORNIA AB 272, which would lower the age at which puppies must be vaccinated from four months to three months just passed the Assembly Agriculture Committee and has been assigned to the Assembly Appropriations Committee http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0251-0300/ab_272_vote_20130313_000001_asm_comm.html .
**What You Can Do to Help:
Contact Appropriations Committee members Mike Gatto (Chair) (916) 319-2043 assemblymember.gatto@asm.ca.gov or staffer Kevin Liao Kevin.Liao@asm.ca.gov & Asm. Susan T. Eggman assemblymember.eggman@asm.ca.gov (916) 319-2013 or staffer Erin Flannery Erin.Flannery@asm.ca.gov & ask them to **OPPOSE AB 272.
PERMISSION GRANTED TO CROSS-POST
Letter from The Rabies Challenge Fund to Assembly Members Gatto & Eggman is below. If you would like a copy of the e-mail correspondence between Dr. Karen Ehnert, Dr. Dodds and me, please send me a request at ledgespring@lincoln.midcoast.com & I will e-mail it to you.**
(link to committee comments on AB 272 http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0251-0300/ab_272_cfa_20130311_134658_asm_comm.html)
March 14, 2013
Assemblymember Mike Gatto, Chair Assemblymember Susan T. Eggman, Chair
RE: AB 272 An Act to Amend Section 121690 of the Health and Safety Code Relating to Rabies
Greetings Assemblymembers Gatto and Eggman :
There are some misrepresentations and inaccuracies relating to AB 272 which should be clarified before another vote is taken on this measure. On February 14, Dr. W. Jean Dodds, a California veterinarian, and Co-Trustee of the Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust, corrected and clarified this misinformation regarding AB 272 in an e-mail to the Acting Director of Veterinary Public Health, Dr. Karen Ehnert, but apparently this information was not conveyed to the bill sponsor or members of the Agriculture or Appropriations Committees (see attached e-mail), or it was disregarded.
The Agriculture Committee comments on AB 272 report that “California is the only state that sets a minimum age of four months for dogs rabies vaccination.” This statement is false. Only twelve (12) out of fifty (50) states require that dogs be vaccinated by 3 months (Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania) . Thirteen (13) states require that dogs be vaccinated by the age of 4 months (Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia); one (1) state (Wisconsin) requires vaccination by 5 months; and six (6) require vaccination by the age of 6 months (Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Tennessee, West Virginia), and twelve (12) refer to the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians’ Rabies Compendium which recommends that rabies vaccines should be administered according to the manufacturers’ labeled instructions. Rabies vaccine labels indicate that they **_may be given at 3 months, **not that they **must be. It is implied in the comments that the Compendium advises that puppies should or must be vaccinated at 3 months of age, which is not the case.
Merial’s IMRAB rabies vaccine labels indicate that they _"**can be administered to puppies as early as 3 months of age" and Pfizer’s Defensor rabies vaccine labels advise that they are for dogs and cats _“3 months of age **or older.” These instructions denote the minimum age at which it is **safe to administer rabies vaccines (i.e., do **not administer before 3 months of age) and not a minimum age at which they must be administered to be effective. Scientific data reflect that the later a puppy can be vaccinated, the more likely the vaccine will have the desired immunological response due to reduced interference of maternal antibodies, which are still present in 3 month old puppies. The 2011 American Animal Hospital Association's Canine Vaccine Guidelines reports that: "Because dogs older than 14-16 wk of age are not likely to have interfering levels of MDA [maternally derived antibodies], administration of a single initial dose of an infectious vaccine to an adult dog can be expected to induce a protective immune response. ….. MDA is the most common reason early vaccination fails to immunize." [1]
Contributing to the likelihood of failure to achieve a proper immune response to rabies vaccination at 3 months is that puppies are finishing up their initial vaccination series of distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus at 12 weeks (3 months) of age. Addition of a rabies vaccine into the mix will not only increase the possibility of adverse reactions, but also the probability that the vaccine components will interfere with each other and neutralize or negate an appropriate immunological response. [2] [3]
In her e-mailed message concerning AB 272 to Dr. Dodds and me, Dr. Ehnert wrote that: “to clarify, the one word change allows for dogs to be vaccinated at 3 months of age, but does not mandate it.” This is a misrepresentation of the bill as worded and the committee summary declaring that “this bill changes, from four months to three months, the age at which a dog is required to be vaccinated against rabies." Addition of a clause such as "or previously vaccinated at the age of three months in another state or country with a rabies vaccine licensed by the USDA" to the current law requiring vaccination at four months would accomplish that goal without changing the mandated age of vaccination to three months.
Dr. Ehnert also explained that one of the reasons she has “pushed” for this change is she and the Health Officers Association “… want to give owners the opportunity to vaccinate puppies earlier when there is increased risk. The past two years we have seen a 4 -5 fold increase in bat rabies in LA County, with some areas being hot spots.” There has been no escalation in canine rabies corresponding to the increase in bat rabies, which according to the Department of Health’s Reported Animal Rabies, for Los Angeles County there were no cases of rabid dogs from 2010 through 2012, while there were 114 rabid bats (22 in 2010, 38 in 2011, and 54 in 2012—representing an increase of nearly 2.5 times instead of a 4-5 fold increase). Statewide, there have only been three cases of rabies in dogs since 2007, as opposed to 981 rabid bats and 147 rabid skunks for the same period, which evidences the fact that the current law requiring puppies to be vaccinated against rabies by 4 months of age is effective at controlling rabies in California’s canine community and does not need to be changed.
To address the concern over a rising increase in rabies in the bat population spilling over into the domestic pet population, Dr. Ehnert and other members of the Health Officers Association of California should request introduction of a bill requiring that all cats in California be vaccinated against rabies, as cats are reported to be 4 times as likely to be infected with rabies as dogs.[4] The Chair of the Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control Committee, Dr. Catherine M. Brown, stated that “because more rabies cases are reported annually involving cats…than dogs, vaccination of cats should be required.”
As it currently stands, the law requiring puppies to be vaccinated at 4 months of age is and has been effective at controlling rabies in California’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 4 months.
On behalf of The Rabies Challenge Fund, a registered California Charitable Trust, and the many concerned California pet owners who have requested our assistance, I strongly urge you to oppose passage of AB 272 as it is currently written.
Respectfully submitted,
Kris L. Christine
Founder, Co-Trustee
THE RABIES CHALLENGE FUND
www.RabiesChallengeFund.org
ledgespring@lincoln.midcoast.comPages: 8
Attachment: 1
cc: Dr. W. Jean Dodds
Dr. Ronald Schultz
Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez
California Assembly
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[1] American Animal Hospital Association Canine Vaccine Task Force. 2011 Canine Vaccine Guidelines, Recommendations, and Supporting Literature, p.12
[2] American Animal Hospital Association Canine Vaccine Task Force. 2003 Canine Vaccine Guidelines, Recommendations, and Supporting Literature, p.16
[3] Moore, et als., Adverse Events Diagnosed Within Three Days of Vaccine Administration in Dogs; Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association., Vol. 227, No. 7, October 1, 2005
[4] Blanton JD, et al. Rabies Surveillance in the United States During 2008. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 2009; 235: 676-690.___**** -
URGENT ACTION ALERT: CALIFORNIA AB 272, which would lower the age at which puppies must be vaccinated from four months to three months will be heard by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Wednesday April 10th http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0251-0300/ab_272_bill_20130404_status.html
Please contact Appropriations Committee Chair Mike Gatto (916) 319-2043 assemblymember.gatto@asm.ca.gov & ask the committee to OPPOSE AB 272.
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Dr. W. Jean Dodds' Interview with Dr. Karen Becker on California AB 272 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZzmVtfzO08
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URGENT CALIFORNIA AB 272, lowering the age at which puppies must be vaccinated against rabies from 4 to 3 months will have 2nd full House consideration TODAY. Contact your legislators & tell them to OPPOSE AB 272 http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/.
Unfortunately, Appropriations unanimously passed this yesterday, despite the bill summary http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0251-0300/ab_272_cfa_20130409_152244_asm_comm.html indicating that, as currently worded, it will not accomplish the authors' stated goals. California Assembly calendar for today ftp://leginfo.public.ca.gov/pub/dailyfile/asm/assembly_floor .
Dr. W. Jean Dodds' video interview with Dr. Karen Becker on California AB 272 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZzmVtfzO08 .
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CALIFORNIA AB 272, lowering the age at which puppies must be vaccinated against rabies from 4 to 3 months will have its 2nd full House vote Monday April 15. Please contact your legislators & tell them to OPPOSE AB 272 http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/.
Assembly Calender for Monday April 15th ftp://leginfo.public.ca.gov/pub/dailyfile/asm/assembly_floor
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URGENT ALERT: California Rabies Bill AB 272 http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0251-0300/ab_272_bill_20130419_amended_asm_v97.pdf, which seeks to lower the age at which dogs must be vaccinated from 4 months to 3 months, will soon be scheduled for a final Assembly vote, and if passed, it will move on to the Senate. Prior Assembly votes supporting AB 272 are baffling as all 4 Assembly analyses (three of which contain inaccurate information on state rabies laws) indicate AB 272 will NOT accomplish the stated goals of its sponsors, the Health Officers Association of California.
Lowering the required age of rabies vaccination to 3 months increases the likelihood of adverse vaccine reactions as well as failure to immunize due to residual maternal antibodies and interference from other puppy vaccines given at 3 months. There is significant opposition to AB 272 from The Rabies Challenge Fund, The California Federation of Dog Clubs, dog organizations, veterinarians, and private individuals.
**What You Can Do to Help
Contact your Assemblymembers and Senator, by phone or e-mail, (click here to find your Legislators http://www.legislature.ca.gov/legislators_and_districts/legislators/your_legislator.html) and ask them to **OPPOSE Rabies Bill AB 272.
Dr. Dodds' Interview on AB 272 with Dr. Karen Becker** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZzmVtfzO08 .**
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CALIFORNIA AB 272–Asm. Gomez & the Assembly apparently think this bill is a joke http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcTniW_zhLs .
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If you are concerned about stopping this bill, please contact your Assemblymember TODAY http://www.legislature.ca.gov/legislators_and_districts/legislators/your_legislator.html & ask them to PUT A HOLD ON BILL AB 272 – it only takes ONE Assemblymember to put a hold on this bill. Ask every California resident you know to do the same.
Permission granted to cross-post.
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THE ALARMING PROPOSED BILL THAT COULD THREATEN YOUR PET'S LIFE Mercola Healthy Pets on California Rabies Bill AB 272 http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/04/29/early-rabies-vaccination.aspx
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CALIFORNIA AB 272, which seeks to lower the age dogs must be vaccinated against rabies from 4 to 3 month has been sent to the Senate. Please contact your SENATOR http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/ immediately & ask them to OPPOSE AB 272, then ask every California resident you know to do the same.
RCF Cover Letter to California Senators:
April 28, 2013
Greetings Senator:
Attached is a letter from The Rabies Challenge Fund, a California charitable trust of which Santa Monica resident, veterinarian & world-renowned veterinary vaccine research scientist Dr. W. Jean Dodds is Co-Trustee, in OPPOSITION to Rabies Bill AB 272. This bill will likely be assigned to your committee this week, after passing the Assembly last week.
AB 272 would **require that all dogs be vaccinated against rabies at the age of 3 months instead of 4 months. Lowering the required age of rabies vaccination to 3 months not only increases the likelihood of adverse vaccine reactions when added to other puppy vaccines given at 3 months, but also may fail to adequately immunize due to residual maternal antibodies.
Please bear in mind that there are **no veterinarians or veterinary medical practitioners amongst the bill’s sponsors, Health Officers Association of California—the association consists of physicians and speak with no more authority on veterinary medical issues than veterinarians would in sponsoring a bill regulating human medical care.
If you have any questions or would like any of the scientific and/or medical data referenced in the attached letter, you can reach Dr. W. Jean Dodds in California at her veterinary clinic (714) 891-2022 , or you can reach me at legdgespring@lincoln.midcoast.com .
Regards,
Kris L. Christine
Founder, Co-Trustee
The Rabies Challenge Fund
www.RabiesChallengeFund.org**** -
CALIFORNIA AB 272 which seeks to lower mandated rabies vaccination in dogs from 4 to 3 months has been assigned to the Senate Health Committee. Please contact committee Chair, Senator Hernandez at (916) 651-4024 senator.hernandez@senate.ca.gov, Senator Anderson (vice-chair) senator.anderson@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4036 and committee members below to OPPOSE AB 272. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0251-0300/ab_272_bill_20130509_status.html
Senate Health Committee: http://biacal.org/LiteratureRetrieve.aspx?ID=120267
Ed Hernandez (Chair) senator.hernandez@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4024
Joel Anderson (Vice Chair) senator.anderson@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4036
Jim Beall senator.beall@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4015
Kevin de Leon senator.deleon@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4022
Mark DeSaulnier senator.desaulnier@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4007
Bill Monning senator.monning@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4017
Jim Nielsen senator.nielsen@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4004
Fran Pavley senator.pavley@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4023
Lois Wolk senator.wolk@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4003 -
CALIFORNIA AB 272 which seeks to lower the age at which dogs must be vaccinated against rabies from 4 to 3 months will be heard JUNE 5th by the Senate Health Committee.
**What You Can Do to Help
Please contact Committee Chair Senator Ed Hernandez (916) 651-4024 Fax (916) 445-0485 senator.hernandez@senate.ca.gov, Senator Joel Anderson (vice-chair) senator.anderson@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4036 Fax (916) 447-9008 & committee members below and ask them to OPPOSE AB 272. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0251-0300/ab_272_bill_20130520_status.html
Senate Health Committee:
Ed Hernandez (Chair) senator.hernandez@senate.ca.gov Phone (916) 651-4024 Fax (916) 445-0485
Joel Anderson (Vice Chair) senator.anderson@senate.ca.gov Phone (916) 651-4036 Fax (916) 447-9008
Jim Beall senator.beall@senate.ca.gov Phone (916) 651-4015 Fax (916) 323-4529
Kevin de Leon senator.deleon@senate.ca.gov Phone (916) 651-4022 Fax (916) 327-8817
Mark DeSaulnier senator.desaulnier@senate.ca.gov Phone (916) 651-4007 Fax (916) 445-2527
Bill Monning senator.monning@senate.ca.gov Phone (916) 651-4017 Fax (916) 445-8081
Jim Nielsen senator.nielsen@senate.ca.gov Phone (916) 651-4004 Fax (916) 445-7750
Fran Pavley senator.pavley@senate.ca.gov Phone (916) 651-4027 Fax (916) 324-4823
Lois Wolk senator.wolk@senate.ca.gov Phone (916) 651-4003 Fax (916) 323-2304
Senate Health Committee Staff Phone Fax (916) 324-0384** -
UPDATE CALIFORNIA Rabies Bill AB 272 was amended in the Senate yesterday (5/28/13) & NO LONGER REQUIRES puppies to be vaccinated against rabies at 3 months http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0251-0300/ab_272_bill_20130528_amended_sen_v96.html "…..(b) (1) Every dog owner, after his or her dog attains the age of three or four months, shall, at intervals of time not more often than once a year, as may be prescribed by the department, procure its vaccination by a licensed veterinarian with a canine antirabies vaccine …"
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Just want to say well done for your effort, hoping pet owners know about this amendment and use it wisely, glad we don't have the need for rabies vaccination in New Zealand.
Jolanda and Kaiser
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@stash:
Just want to say well done for your effort, hoping pet owners know about this amendment and use it wisely, glad we don't have the need for rabies vaccination in New Zealand.
Thank you, Jolanda, it has been a real struggle with this bill.
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CALIFORNIA AB 272 amended in Senate 7/2/13 to read "Every dog owner by the time his or her dog attains the age of four months, shall…" http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0251-0300/ab_272_bill_20130702_amended_sen_v95.htm . The Rabies Challenge Fund does support the language of the bill as amended on 7/2/13.
There has been some confusion for dog owners, please ignore the legislative counsel's digest, which is NOT the text of the bill & the bill is not changing the law to require annual vaccination. The only change in the law this bill as of today is the age at which puppies must be vaccinated (originally Asm. Gomez wanted to lower the age to 3 months). This language: "shall, at intervals of time NOT MORE OFTEN THAN ONCE A YEAR, as may be prescribed by the department," has always been in the law & what is "prescribed by the department" is below.
California Department of Public Health Compendium of U.S. Licensed Animal Rabies Vaccines – 2008, and Their Application in Animals Under the California Rabies Control Program http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Documents/2008_CA_rabies_vaccine_compendium.pdf
Division 14 FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE
SECTION 30801-30807 http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=fac&group=30001-31000&file=30801-3080730801.(d) In addition to the authority provided in subdivisions (a), (b), and
, a license may be issued, as provided by this section, by a board of supervisors for a period not to exceed three years for dogs that have attained the age of 12 months, or older, and who have been vaccinated against rabies. The person to whom the license is to be issued pursuant to this subdivision may choose a license period as established by the board of supervisors of up to one, two, or three years. However, when issuing a license pursuant to this subdivision, the license period shall not extend beyond the remaining period of validity for the current rabies vaccination.Exemption signed into law 10/7/11: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=hsc&group=121001-122000&file=121575-121710
(b) (1) Every dog owner, after his or her dog attains the age of four months, shall, at intervals of time not more often than once a year, as may be prescribed by the department, procure its vaccination by a licensed veterinarian with a canine antirabies vaccine approved by, and in a manner prescribed by, the department, unless a licensed veterinarian determines, on an annual basis, that a rabies vaccination would endanger the dog's life due to disease or other considerations that the veterinarian can verify and document. The responsible city, county, or city and county may specify the means by which the dog owner is required to provide proof of his or her dog's rabies vaccination, including, but not limited to, by electronic transmission or facsimile.
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URGENT CALIFORNIA AB 272 re-amended 8/20/13 by Senate AGAIN lowering the age at which puppies must be vaccinated against rabies to 3 months: "after his or her dog is 3 months of age or older. " Please contact your Senator, Assemblymember (http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov) & bill sponsor Asm. Gomez assemblymember.gomez@assembly.ca.gov (916) 319-2051 & ask them to OPPOSE or WITHDRAW this bill!
Amended Bill Text as of 8/21/13: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0251-0300/ab_272_bill_20130820_amended_sen_v94.pdf
AB 272 Bill Status & History http://www.legislature.ca.gov/cgi-bin/port-postquery?bill_number=ab_272&sess=CUR&house=B&author=gomez
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CALIFORNIA AB 272 lowering the age puppies must be vaccinated against rabies to 3 months passed the General Assembly & is in enrollment. The Governor has 12 days to sign this bill into law. Please call Governor Brown's Office TODAY 916-445-2841 (press 1 at prompt, then 6) & ask him to OPPOSE & VETO the bill, and ask all the dog lovers you know to do the same! http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0251-0300/ab_272_bill_20130906_history.html
