Kerry Blue Terrier Foundation Donates $5,000 to Rabies Challenge Fund
 

The Kerry Blue Terrier Foundation (http://www.kerryblues.info) has generously donated $5,000 to The Rabies Challenge Fund, which was established to raise money to finance concurrent 5 and 7 year rabies vaccine challenge studies in the United States. It is spearheaded by world-renowned vaccine research scientist and practicing veterinary clinician, Dr. W. Jean Dodds of California, and pet vaccine disclosure advocate, Kris L. Christine of Maine. The Kerry Blue donation was announced by the Foundation’s President, John Van den Bergh. 

“As an educational organization, we are happy to be able to fund a study that will finally shed some light on vaccination research,”says Van den Bergh. He believes that by supporting The Rabies Challenge study, “The dog community will have the ammunition to talk to legislators to bring the law in line with science.”

Rabies vaccination is the one immunization required by law for domestic dogs and cats. Researchers believe this vaccine causes the most and worst adverse reactions in animals.  . The August 2003 Journal of Veterinary Medicine reports a study by M. Vascellari and colleagues documenting cancerous tumors in dogs at presumed rabies vaccination injection sites. Scientific data indicate that vaccinating dogs against rabies triennially, as most states require, is unnecessary. In 1992 French researchers demonstrated dogs immune to a rabies challenge 5 years after vaccination (a challenge study involves control groups and “challenging” the animal’s immunity with live virus). The serological studies of Dr. Ronald Schultz of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine have shown dogs’ antibody titer counts at levels known to confer rabies immunity 7 years post-vaccination. The Rabies Challenge Fund has been founded to improve the safety of rabies vaccines and to determine, by challenge, if they confer immunity for 5 or 7 years.

World-renowned vaccine research scientist and practicing veterinarian, Dr. W. Jean Dodds of California, and pet vaccine disclosure advocate Kris L. Christine of Maine have established The Rabies Challenge Fund to raise $1.5 million to fund the 5 and 7 year challenge studies, as well as a study of the adjuvants used in canine rabies vaccines and establish a rabies vaccine adverse reaction reporting system.

Rabies is among the antigenically strongest vaccines, containing potent adjuvants to bolster the immune response. Rabies vaccines are documented to elicit severe and even fatal adverse reactions. According to Dr. Dodds, “giving them more often than truly needed is unwise, unnecessary, and can be unsafe.” She further states, “To date, most states require rabies vaccination every three years, but some states still require annual rabies revaccination, even though the USDA licenses these vaccines for three years”

Dr. Dodds received the D.V.M. degree with honors in 1964 from the Ontario Veterinary College,University of Toronto. In 1965 she joined the New York State Health Department in Albany and began comparative studies of animals with inherited and acquired bleeding diseases. Her position there began as a Research Scientist and culminated as the chief of Laboratory of Hematology at the Wadsworth Center. In 1980 she also became Executive Director of the New York State Council on Human Blood and Transfusion Services. This work continued full-time until 1986 when she moved to Southern Californiato establish Hemopet, the first non-profit national blood bank program for animals.

“Certainly, veterinarians are aware of the adverse reactions that can occur after rabies and other vaccinations in dogs and cats, ”Dodds said. “The public is the body most motivated to address the issues here, because it is some of their beloved companions that have suffered by the existing regulations.”

Other beneficial research to be financed by The Rabies Challenge Fund will be a safety study of adjuvants used to enhance the immune response in veterinary rabies vaccines. Some pet owners, like Kris Christine, believe the adjuvants may cause more adverse reactions than the actual vaccine -- her own dog developed a malignant mast cell tumor at the site of a rabies shot.  “Unlike human vaccines where all adjuvants are required to be the same, there is no such standardization in veterinary medicine,” Christine said. “Hopefully, this study can be completed before the five and seven years of the parallel challenge studies, to make vaccines safer for our precious canine companions.”
 
Donations can be sent to THE RABIES CHALLENGE FUND, c/o Hemopet,11330 Markon Drive, Garden Grove, CA 92841.
 
Rabies Challenge Fund poster designed by fund sponsor Deb Odom is accessible at http://www.zbirdbrain.com/PetAdvocatesTownHallCisSupport.htm

Last Update: 09/29/06, 08:58:23  Terms of Use and Disclaimer.