[KrisChristine]

To update you, there is an article in today's (3/18/08) Wichita Eagle by Diane McCartney entitled:
Are annual shots a risk for dogs? Many wonder why city requires 3-year rabies vaccine yearly
http://www.kansas.com/news/story/344780.html  The following quotes are from that article:

Most veterinarians, including those in Wichita, use a rabies vaccine for dogs that is guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to give immunity for three years.

That's why Michael Nawrocki, president of the Wichita Veterinary Medical Association, calls yearly rabies vaccinations "overkill."

"Every animal, whether they get the one-year or the three-year vaccine, it's the exact same vaccine; it's good for three years," Nawrocki said.

If the vaccine is good for three years, why does the city of Wichita require pets to be vaccinated every year?

Kay Johnson, director of the city's department of environmental services, says irresponsible pet owners are to blame.

Until we see better compliance with vaccinations in general, I'm not inclined to relax our position" on the yearly vaccine, she said.

"It's insane for them to go through this every year," said Christopher Hesse of College Hill Animal Hospital.

Requiring all dogs to be vaccinated annually because some people don't take their dogs in for shots is "ludicrous thinking," Hesse said.

PERMISSION GRANTED TO CROSS-POST THIS MESSAGE

If you would like to see the national 3 year rabies protocol adopted, you can contact Kay Johnson at [email protected] Phone  (316) 268-8351 Fax:  (316) 268-8356  Environmental Services1900 E. 9th St. N. Wichita, KS 67214. Kansas Legislators can be contacted by clicking on the link below or by copying and pasting the e-mails at the bottom of this post.

Kansas Legislature -- find your legislator http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-leg ... ricting.do

[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]s.us; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

 

[KrisChristine]

2nd Update-KANSAS RABIES LAW--My Letter to Kay Johnson

[b:h9ivqrcf]Below is a copy of the letter I faxed to Kay Johnson this morning.

 

[KrisChristine]

KS Rabies Law--ACT NOW!!

Kansas Rabies Law--ACT NOW!

In my 2nd update post above is a copy of the letter I faxed to Kay Johnson.  It appears that a vaccine revolution in Kansas has been triggered by the Wichita Eagle article http://www.kansas.com/news/story/344780.html .  There is a rare opportunity to get the various Kansas rabies laws changed to the national standard, and NOW is the time to take action to help!  Dog owners in Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Georgia have contacted me about initiating efforts to change the laws in their states, based on the recent developments in Maine and Kansas.  It's important to remember that as dog owners, we all have a stake in the rabies immunization laws across the country as they tend to spill over state borders; so even if you do not live in Kansas, the rabies immunization laws there could impact you in the future.

What You Can Do to Help:  Please contact Kay Johnson, the Wichita City Council, Kansas Legislators, the Governor, and the Attorney General.  Contact information is below--it's simple to make a phone call or two or copy and paste e-mail addresses to send e-mail messages.  The full e-mail list of Kansas senators and representatives is at the bottom of this message.  Pass this message along to everyone you know and ask them to do the same.  Simple actions multiplied hundreds of times over move mountains!

A concerned Wichita pet owner has informed me that Kay Johnson told them she doesn't want dog owners contacting her!!!  Kay Johnson is a public official, and she needs to be reminded that her salary is paid by the public she is supposed to serve -- as her department's mission states:  http://www.wichita.gov/CityOffices/Environmental/ "Service: We must serve the public as a whole, our customers who seek a product or service from us, and future generations, whose interests are affected by today's actions."

Kay Johnson at [email protected] Phone  (316) 268-8351 Fax:  (316) 268-8356  Environmental Services1900 E. 9th St. N. Wichita, KS 67214. Kansas Legislators can be contacted by clicking on the link below or by copying and pasting the e-mails at the bottom of my post above.

Kansas Legislature -- find your legislator http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-leg ... ricting.do  Full e-mail list of all Kansas Legislators is on my action alert post above.

Wichita City Council http://www.wichita.gov/Government/CityCouncil/ City Hall, 1st Floor, MS 1-13, 455 N. Main, Wichita, KS 67202 Phone (316) 268-4331 Fax:  (316) 858-7743 E-Mails: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius:  Office of the Governor, Capitol, 300 SW 10th Ave., Ste. 212S, Topeka, KS 66612-1590 Phone: (1-877-579-6757) Fax 785-368-8788; Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson: Toll-Free 1-800-748-4408 Local 785-296-2213 Fax 785-296-5669;

Kansas Attorney General's Office:  Kansas Attorney General Stephen N. Six Memorial Hall, 2nd Floor; 120 SW 10th Street; Topeka, KS 66612 Phone: (785) 296-2215; 1-888-428-8436 fax: (785) 296-6296 e-mail:  [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; Consumer Protection Division Phone: (785) 296-3751 (800) 432-2310 Consumer Fax: (785) 291-3699

PERMISSION GRANTED TO CROSS-POST THIS MESSAGE

Kris

 

[KrisChristine]

Kansas Petition, Wyoming News Article & Arkansas Yahoo G

Kansas Petition & Wyoming News Rabies Law Article & Arkansas Yahoo Group

Kansas Dog owners have started a petition to get annual rabies laws in the state changed to the national 3 year standard.  They are planning to have petitions available for dog owners to sign at the upcoming Yappy Days event on March 29th from 9-4 at the Kansas Coliseum, Pavilion II http://www.kzsn.com/cc-common/mainheadl ... le=3323054 .  They also intend to post the petition online, and I will post the link when it is available.

In an unexpected development, the Wyoming News ran the following article in their March 22, 2008 edition http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/200 ... -23-08.txt   Vaccine overkill? By Baylie Davis  CHEYENNE -- Even though city residents might have the option of getting rabies vaccines for their pets that last three years, according to city ordinance, the vaccine has to be administered every year.  Dog owners are mobilizing to tackle annual rabies laws/ordinances there, and again, I will post more information as it becomes available.

Arkansas dog owners are organizing to change their annual rabies laws there.  A Yahoo group, Arkansas Rabies Vaccine Info http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ARVaccineInfo has been started to coordinate efforts there, please join if you are interested.

Kris

 

[KrisChristine]

Wichita to Form Rabies Vaccination Committee

Wichita to Form Rabies Vaccination Committee

I just received the notice below.  When Maine revised their rabies laws, they included a representative of the dog-owning public (me), how unfortunate that Wichita is not including a member of their dog-owning public.


                    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:  Kay Johnson, Director of Environmental Services, 268-8351

City to Form Rabies Vaccination Committee


The City of Wichita is forming an ad hoc committee to review the schedule for rabies vaccinations, Interim Wichita City Manager Ed Flentje announced on Tuesday.

The committee will review the latest information on rabies prevention and control and make recommendations, said Kay Johnson, Director of Environmental Services.

Committee members will be announced at a later date.

[b:2tqm4zfy]

 

[KrisChristine]

PETITION LINK

Link to Petition

The petition is posted online at http://www.thepetitionsite.com:80/1/Sto ... in-Wichita .

 

[KrisChristine]

KS Rabies Law--Monday Meeting & Petition

KS Rabies Law-- Monday Meeting & Petition

http://www.kansas.com/living/pets/story/355652.html

PET BRIEFS
City rabies law to be discussed

Anyone interested in discussing proposed changes to Wichita's ordinance requiring yearly rabies vaccinations for dogs is invited to a meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Alford Branch Library, 3447 S. Meridian.

Petitions will be available to sign at the meeting and also at Yappy Days, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at Pavilion II in the Kansas Coliseum.

The city announced earlier this week that it is forming an ad hoc committee, made up primarily of local veterinarians and public health officials, to review the latest information on rabies prevention and control and discuss the vaccination schedule.

The committee's recommendations will be provided to the city manager as part of a broader and ongoing animal ordinance review, the city said in a news release. The ordinance review is set to be presented to the Wichita City Council later this year.

To read more about rabies laws and vaccines, go online to www.kansas.com/living/pets/story/344780.html.

 

[KrisChristine]

2 Doses Rabies Vaccine Protective According to CDC Study!!

PERMISSION GRANTED TO CROSS-POST THIS MESSAGE

2 Doses Rabies Vaccine Protective According to CDC Study

It took ages to find the report below after the CDC removed it from their rabies site -- you might find it interesting.

The following quote is from the Center for Disease Control's MMWR Recommendations and Reports March 22, 1991/40(RR03);1-19 Rabies Prevention-- United States, 1991 Recommendations of the Immunization Practices Advisory Committee http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00041987.htm

"A fully vaccinated dog or cat is unlikely to become infected with rabies, although rare cases have been reported (48). In a nationwide study of rabies among dogs and cats in 1988, only one dog and two cats that were vaccinated contracted rabies (49). All three of these animals had received only single doses of vaccine; no documented vaccine failures occurred among dogs or cats that had received two vaccinations. " .

 

[KrisChristine]

Wichita Rabies Law Article 11/15/08

There's an article in today's Wichita Eagle on the city's rabies ordinance, comments I've submitted are below.

 

[KrisChristine]

WICHITA, KS Passes 3 Year Rabies Ordinance 3/11/09

Yesterday the Wichita, Kansas City Council voted in a 3 year rabies protocol.


Wichita City Council Overhauls Animal Codes 3/11/09 Wichita Eagle http://www.kansas.com/news/story/728918.html by SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS

"• Require rabies vaccinations every three years -- instead of every year -- for dogs, cats and ferrets."