Right now, the city requires that rabies tags be updated every year -- which means a new shot annually even though there is a vaccination that is proven to last for three years.

By Baylie Davis
bdavis@wyomingnews.com

CHEYENNE -- Despite urging from some pet owners, the city ordinance for rabies vaccinations isn't likely to change any time in the near future, officials say.

There has been some question as to whether vaccinating pets for rabies every year is necessary -- or even is healthy.

Even among veterinarians, there isn't a consensus.

Right now the city requires that rabies tags be updated every year. That means a new shot annually even though there is a vaccination that is proven to last for three.

There are several reasons city officials cite for the requirement. Those include: proper identification and registration of the animals; and ensuring that residents don't forget to vaccinate.

Laramie County resident Karon Volk is a pet owner and supporter of the Rabies Challenge Fund, an organization that tests the duration of the rabies vaccine.

She says the yearly requirement is overkill and may be dangerous to pets.

The results of the studies, which won't be published for five years, have found that the currently rabies vaccine provides immunity for much longer than one year, possibly even longer than seven years, she said.

The fund also has found that the vaccine can cause some adverse reactions like tumors and illness, Volk added.

In a special report by the Center for Veterinary Biologics in the Journal of American Veterinary Medicine Association, between 2004 and 2007 there were 246 adverse events reported after a dog was given a rabies vaccine.

But it later states that in nearly 72 percent of those reports, another vaccine or medication was administered at the same time, and it was generally not possible to determine which product was the cause of the reaction.

The report concluded: "findings ... do not suggest a high frequency or unexpected pattern of adverse events associated with the use of rabies vaccines in veterinary medicine."

Walter Cook, state veterinarian, said he has polled different vets in the state who do a lot of vaccinations, and "no one has reported any serious side effects."

There are other vaccines and medications that are more likely to cause reactions, but "the rabies vaccine has just not been associated with very many side effects," he said.

But Volk said many veterinary offices rely on the income they get from seeing patients every year, so there is likely an under-reporting of the adverse effects.

Cook said vets are required to report any side effects so the vaccine can be studied. He would be "absolutely shocked," he said, if any doctors were putting animals at risk just to make a profit.

Volk has written to city officials, asking them to re-examine the yearly requirement.

Although she lives outside of the city, where the requirement is that the vaccine be updated according to the label -- which is sometimes three years -- she has friends and family in the city who she says are subjected to an unhealthy law.

"I raise Irish wolfhounds, and because of this regulation, (I) would not consider placing any of my puppies in the city," she wrote Mayor Jack Spiker.

He responded that although his office has gotten a lot of calls about the issue, he will take guidance from the leaders at the Cheyenne Animal Shelter in making any changes.

Shelter director Rick Collard said, "We have not had anything that shows there's an issue here in this community."

The shelter is busy responding to barking or stray dogs or breeding cat complaints in the city, he said.

"We're a bit overwhelmed with those kinds of complaints right now," he said.

City Council President Don Pierson has agreed to research the issue and to consider re-examining the ordinance.

"I am not ready to introduce any ordinances or resolutions on the subject at this time but may in the future," he said.

Also, state Rep. Pete Illoway, R-Cheyenne, has asked the mayor to re-examine the ordinance.

"I do not think that the ease of looking at a tag or the ease for animal control officers is a sufficient reason for requiring yearly rabies shots," he wrote to Spiker.

"The citizens are asking you and the council to take a good look, have some meetings, hearings, etc. and make a determination."

The studies that are being done now might prove the vaccine need not be -- or shouldn't be -- administered every year.

Cook said that after those are complete, the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians may test and accept the results of those studies.

"If they're satisfied with those studies, we might very well see some changes (in coming years)," he said.

What is rabies?

According to the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians and the Center for Disease Control, rabies is a "fatal viral zoonosis and a serious public health problem." The CDC's rabies Web site says, "Early symptoms of rabies in humans are nonspecific, consisting of fever, headache, and general malaise. As the disease progresses, neurological symptoms appear and may include insomnia, anxiety, confusion, slight or partial paralysis, excitation, hallucinations, agitation, hypersalivation, difficulty swallowing and hydrophobia (fear of water). Death usually occurs within days of the onset of symptoms." Although it is fairly rare for pets to contract the disease, (domestic animals account for less than 10 percent of reported cases) it is more common for wild animals to carry it. Thus, if your pets are exposed to wild animals that could bite or scratch it, they could be in danger. "Unvaccinated dogs, cats and ferrets exposed to a rabid animal should be euthanized immediately," the CDC says.