More bad legislation is coming down the pipe, this time AB-272, which would lower the age for a dog’s first rabies vaccine from 4 months to 3 months. WHY? This is troublesome for numerous reasons, least of which is that there is absolutely no reason or need to even entertain doing this in the first place. For what? This is supposed to fix a problem that doesn’t even exist? Yeah, pretty pointless. But more damaging: Opponents of this change have pointed out that maternal antibodies oftentimes block this vaccine in young dogs until after 4 months i.e. why 4 months was originally determined to be the appropriate time for such a vaccine. With the earlier push you are subjecting far more dogs to the potential exposure to rabies. How? Because you are rushing the process and an inappropriate immunization that comes too early will create a false sense of security that could end up having serious repercussions down the road. Secondly, the 3 month marker is commonly used for a puppies 2nd round of secondary shots. The rabies vaccine should always be given at least 2 weeks apart from other vaccines, as to avoid any adverse reactions. Now with the forcing of all of these shots to be administered around the same time (and very likely at the exact same time, simply out of ignorance and convenience) you would be greatly increasing the probability that your puppy would suffer from an adverse reaction. This isn’t to be taken lightly. Rabies vaccine reactions are the adverse reactions most often reported, and far and away the most severe if they do happen, both in the short- and the long-term.

Again, please visit this link for a well laid out plan on how to contact the appropriate people in order to drive back this proposed change. The hearing date is this Wednesday, 3/13!