The Colorado Department of Agriculture is considering a new rule that would require rabies vaccines for puppies, kittens and ferrets imported by animal rescue agencies after several puppies were euthanized during a rabies scare earlier this year.
As originally reported by Denver7, the rule would effectively ban the importation of animals less than twelve weeks old because younger animals cannot receive the rabies vaccine.
Organizations licensed under the Colorado Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act are already prohibited from importing animals younger than eight weeks of age, and animals older than three months must have a rabies vaccine.
Nick Fisher, head of the Agriculture Department’s PACFA program, said the rule change was necessary to protect pet owners and their animals from the deadly virus.
“It’s obviously a major consumer protection issue and a major public safety issue,” Fisher said. “What happens if a child dies or someone else dies because we don’t do anything about it?”
Although vaccines and post-exposure medications are effective in preventing people and animals from contracting rabies, once rabies symptoms become apparent, the disease is almost always fatal. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The symptoms of rabies in dogs are similar to those of canine distemper virus, which can lead to one disease being diagnosed as the other. To test a dog for rabies, the animal must first be euthanized.
This fact led to grief among many pet owners earlier this year, when one of 11 puppies imported from Texas by Moms and Mutts Colorado Rescue was found to have rabies.
The remaining ten dogs had to be put down – only the first was infected, according to Denver7. Fisher said more than 100 dogs were ultimately exposed and 54 people required post-exposure treatment, which cost several thousand dollars for some.
“I think this is the tip of the iceberg,” Fisher said of the incident. “There could possibly be cases of rabies that we don’t know about that have been diagnosed as canine distemper.”
The proposed addition to the Code of Colorado Regulations requiring rabies vaccines for dogs, cats and ferrets imported from out of state into PACFA-licensed facilities are currently being considered by the Agriculture Department. PACFA Advisory Committee.
Also included are requirements that all dogs have at least one vaccine against parvovirus and distemper, and that all cats have one vaccine against feline viral rhinotracheitis, feline calicivirus, and feline panleukopenia; and all ferrets have one vaccine against distemper.
Fisher said the rule likely won’t be final until fall 2025 if it is accepted the Colorado Agriculture Commission after an ongoing public comment process.
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