# CALIFORNIA Rabies Bill AB 272 ACTION ALERT



## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

CALIFORNIA ACTION ALERT: Rabies Bill AB 272 introduced by Assemblyman Gomez seeks to lower required age of vaccination to 12 weeks from the current 16 weeks AB 272 Assembly Bill - INTRODUCED . 

What You Can Do to Help: 

Please contact Mr. Gomez & ask him to WITHDRAW this bill! [email protected] (916) 319-2051 

PERMISSION GRANTED TO CROSS-POST


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## AngelsMommy (Nov 3, 2012)

OMG! That is horrible! Are they trying to kill these puppies???!!! I will let my family in CA know so that they can give him an earfull!

What Vet can possibly be telling him this is a good thing? In Texas we have to vaccinate at 4 months and I wish it were older. I know that healthy is the best prevention of disease. Just like someone with a healthy immune system is less likely to catch the flu. Nanny state at it again.


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

Reports are that the other e-mail for Asm. Gomez does not work. Please try this one: [email protected]


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

Below is my letter to Assemblymember Gomez on behalf of The Rabies Challenge Fund.

February 13, 2013

Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0051

RE: AB 272 An Act to Amend Section 121690 of the Health and Safety Code Relating to Rabies 

Greetings Assemblymember Gomez:

Assembly Bill AB 272 which you have introduced seeking to lower the age at which dogs must be vaccinated against rabies from 4 months to 3 months is ill-advised and scientifically unfounded. The bill seeks to address a problem in the canine community that does not exist, as the California Department of Public Health’s statistics in Reported Animal Rabies Data make abundantly clear: bats and other wildlife pose the major threat of rabies transmission to the public, not dogs under the age of 4 months. 

Three cases of rabies in dogs since 2007 (no mention of them being dogs under 4 months of age), as opposed to 981 rabid bats and 147 rabid skunks for the same period, 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. 

Lowering the age at which puppies are required to have their first rabies shot from 4 months to 3 months would be counterproductive. Puppies are finishing up their other vaccinations (distemper, hepatitis, parvo) at 12 weeks (3 months) of age, and adding a rabies vaccine into the mix will not only increase the likelihood of adverse reactions, but also the probability that the vaccine components will interfere with each other and neutralize or negate the desired immunological response. 

Contributing to the chance that rabies vaccination at 3 months may not be effective is the continued presence of maternal antibodies. According to the 2006 American Animal Hospital Association's Canine Vaccine Guidelines, the most common reason for vaccination failure is "the puppy has a sufficient amount of passively acquired maternal antibody (PAMA) to block the vaccine......" [1] They elaborate by reporting that at the ages of 14 to 16 weeks of age, "PAMA should be at a level that will not block active immunization in most puppies (>95%) when a reliable product is used." After the age of 16 weeks (4 months), the maternal antibodies are reduced to a level at which they should not reduce the rabies vaccine's effectiveness.

Vaccinating puppies at too young an age can be ineffective. The 2003 American Animal Hospital Association's (AAHA) Canine Vaccine Guidelines reports on Page 16 that: "When vaccinating an animal, the age of the animal, the animal's immune status, and interference by maternal antibodies in the development of immunity must be considered. Research has demonstrated that the presence of passively acquired maternal antibodies interferes with the immune response to many canine vaccines, including CPV, CDV, CAV-2 and rabies vaccines.” [2]

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 and the many concerned California pet owners who have requested our assistance, I strongly urge you to withdraw AB 272. 

Respectfully submitted,

Kris L. Christine
Founder, Co-Trustee
THE RABIES CHALLENGE FUND
Duration of Immunity Study for Rabies Vaccine - Rabies Challenge Fund

cc: Dr. W. Jean Dodds
Dr. Ronald Schultz
California Assembly
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[1] American Animal Hospital Association Canine Vaccine Task Force. 2006 Canine Vaccine Guidelines, Recommendations, and Supporting Literature, 28pp.
[2] American Animal Hospital Association Canine Vaccine Task Force. 2003 Canine Vaccine Guidelines, Recommendations, and Supporting Literature, 28pp.


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## Oreo's Mommy (Dec 18, 2012)

Thank goodness I live in a rabies free state (Hawaii) so we don't vaccinate against it unless you are traveling out of state or country.


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

*CALIFORNIA RABIES BILL AB 272* seeking to lower the required age of vaccination for dogs from 16 weeks to 12 weeks will have a hearing 3/13/13 before the Assembly Agriculture Comittee AB 272 Assembly Bill - INTRODUCED. 

*What You Can Do to Help:*

Contact Committee Chair Susan Eggman [email protected] (916) 319-2013 & committee members below and ask them *TO REJECT* this bill.

*California Agriculture Committee Members*

Susan T. Eggman, Chair [email protected] (916) 319-2013
Kristen Olsen, Vice Chair [email protected] (916) 319-2012
Toni Atkins [email protected] (916) 319-2078
Brian Dahle [email protected] (916) 319-2001
Richard Pan [email protected] (916) 319-2009
Bill Quirk [email protected] (916) 319-2020
Marioko Yamada [email protected] (916) 319-2020

*PERMISSION GRANTED TO CROSS-POST*


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

*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 [email protected] & Susan T. Eggman [email protected] (916) 319-2013 & 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 [email protected] & 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
[email protected] 

Pages: 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.


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

*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 AB 272 Assembly Bill - Status 

Please contact Appropriations Committee Chair Mike Gatto (916) 319-2043 [email protected] & ask the committee to *OPPOSE AB 272. *


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

Dr. W. Jean Dodds' Interview with Dr. Karen Becker on California AB 272 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZzmVtfzO08


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

I don't mean to hijack this thread, and I agree there doesn't seem to be any reason to lower the age of vaccination, but I do think that at some early point, every dog, unless there are extraordinary circumstances, should be vaccinated. Rabies is an absolutely horrible way to die, for humans as well as dogs. 

I found a dying bat in my driveway yesterday morning, in broad daylight. I was wearing sandals and could easily have stepped on it and been bitten. I'd had the dogs out that way 10 minutes before. It could have bitten one of them. Maybe it didn't have rabies, maybe it did, but it was definitely too sick to fly. I killed it (only because my husband wasn't home to do it for me--that's really his job) and later wondered if I should have bleached that part of the driveway, sent the body to the health department, done something else. Over the years, we've had bats get into the house a few times, so, even if my dogs were never allowed outside, they'd still be vaccinated.


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

Judy, all dogs & cats should be vaccinated against rabies, no one is saying they shouldn't be.


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Kris, I do understand that. I'm a nurse--my degree is in community health nursing--and I know that discussions about required preschool vaccinations for children sometimes morph into a generalized anti-vaccine rant. The comment about the "nanny state" made me wonder if that's where this was heading. Also, at the time I posted, I was probably a bit more touchy than I should have been because of that **** bat I killed on Saturday. I am absolutely horrified at the prospect of rabies, and I'm all in favor of the nanny state requiring dogs and cats to be vaccinated.


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

Judy, Dr. Dodds & I want to be sure that puppies are vaccinated against rabies at a time when there is the greatest likelihood that the vaccines will not be neutralized or negated by maternal antibodies or by multi-valent vaccines, and we firmly believe that *all*dogs & cats should be vaccinated against rabies.


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Then we are in agreement.


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

*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 *Find Your California Representative.

Unfortunately, Appropriations unanimously passed this yesterday, despite the bill summary AB 272 Assembly Bill - Bill Analysis 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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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

*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* Find Your California Representative.

Assembly Calender for Monday April 15th ftp://leginfo.public.ca.gov/pub/dailyfile/asm/assembly_floor


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

*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 California State Legislature—Your Legislator) 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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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

CALIFORNIA AB 272--Asm. Gomez & the Assembly apparently think this bill is a joke 



 .


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

If you are concerned about stopping this bill, please contact your Assemblymember *TODAY * California State Legislature—Your Legislator & 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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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

*THE ALARMING PROPOSED BILL THAT COULD THREATEN YOUR PET'S LIFE* Mercola Healthy Pets on California Rabies Bill AB 272 Risks of Too Early Rabies Vaccination in Pets


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

*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* Find Your California Representative 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 [email protected] .

Regards,
Kris L. Christine
Founder, Co-Trustee
The Rabies Challenge Fund
Duration of Immunity Study for Rabies Vaccine - Rabies Challenge Fund


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

*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 [email protected], Senator Anderson (vice-chair) [email protected] (916) 651-4036 and committee members below to *OPPOSE AB 272*. AB 272 Assembly Bill - Status

*Senate Health Committee:* http://biacal.org/LiteratureRetrieve.aspx?ID=120267

Ed Hernandez (Chair) [email protected] (916) 651-4024
Joel Anderson (Vice Chair) [email protected] (916) 651-4036
Jim Beall [email protected] (916) 651-4015
Kevin de Leon [email protected] (916) 651-4022
Mark DeSaulnier [email protected] (916) 651-4007
Bill Monning [email protected] (916) 651-4017
Jim Nielsen [email protected] (916) 651-4004
Fran Pavley [email protected] (916) 651-4023
Lois Wolk [email protected] (916) 651-4003


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

*Hearing JUNE 5th Contact Sen. Health Committee*

*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 [email protected], Senator Joel Anderson (vice-chair) [email protected] (916) 651-4036 Fax (916) 447-9008 & committee members below and ask them to *OPPOSE AB 272.* AB 272 Assembly Bill - Status

Senate Health Committee: 

Ed Hernandez (Chair) [email protected] Phone (916) 651-4024 Fax (916) 445-0485
Joel Anderson (Vice Chair) [email protected] Phone (916) 651-4036 Fax (916) 447-9008
Jim Beall [email protected] Phone (916) 651-4015 Fax (916) 323-4529
Kevin de Leon [email protected] Phone (916) 651-4022 Fax (916) 327-8817
Mark DeSaulnier [email protected] Phone (916) 651-4007 Fax (916) 445-2527
Bill Monning [email protected] Phone (916) 651-4017 Fax (916) 445-8081
Jim Nielsen [email protected] Phone (916) 651-4004 Fax (916) 445-7750
Fran Pavley [email protected] Phone (916) 651-4027 Fax (916) 324-4823
Lois Wolk [email protected] Phone (916) 651-4003 Fax (916) 323-2304
Senate Health Committee Staff Phone Fax (916) 324-0384


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

*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 AB 272 Assembly Bill - AMENDED ".....(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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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

*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..." AB272 Assembly Bill– AMENDED . 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 CA Codes (fac:30801-30807) 

30801.(d) In addition to the authority provided in subdivisions (a), (b), and (c), 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: CA Codes (hsc: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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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

*URGENT California AB 272*

*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 (Find Your California Representative) & bill sponsor Asm. Gomez [email protected] (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 Bill List


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

* CORRECTION: e-mail address for Assemblymember Gomez is [email protected] .*


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## Kris L. Christine (Jul 11, 2010)

* CALIFORNIA AB 272 * lowering the age puppies must be vaccinated against rabies to 3 months passed the General Assembly & is in enrollment. Call Gov. Brown's Office 916-445-2841 (press 1 at prompt, then 6) & ask him to * OPPOSE & VETO * the bill. AB 272 Assembly Bill - History


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