Rabies-vaccine-induced Ischemic Dermatopathy forced the retirement of Peaches from competition. See the disease on her haunch and ears.
Peaches, Judy Schor’s champion agility dog, retired from competition, and almost died, when she developed Ischemic Dermatopathy after rabies vaccination. Judy raised $30,000 with her benefit for the Rabies Challenge Fund, a nonprofit trying to prove that the vaccine gives immunity for at least seven years. Principal Fund researcher Dr. Ron Schultz , and co-Founder Dr. Jean Dodds, spoke about the dangers of the rabies vaccine at the benefit. A second benefit was held in San Diego in 2010. A video from both events is available at Safer Pet Vaccination. All proceeds benefit the Rabies Challenge Fund.
Here is how vaccination changed Peaches’s life as told by Judy: As a well intentioned and responsible pet owner, I take my pups in for their annual Well checks and Dental’s. And like clockwork, every 3 years, as required by law, my dogs would get their 3 year Rabies vaccine. In early April of 2007, I took my beloved Rat-Terrier Peaches in for her 7 year Rabies booster. We returned home and nothing unusual noted, however in retrospect, maybe I was remiss in noticing any lethargy or changes as I really never thought that a legally required vaccine could/would cause any harm.
Dr. James R. Shannon, former Director of the US National Institute of Health, has been widely quoted as saying: “The only safe vaccine is one that is never used.”
But are adverse vaccine reactions really a big deal? Aren’t they just the “fever and fatigue” we’re warned about after yearly shots? Or is there more to learn?
And aren’t moderate and severe adverse reactions rare? Let’s answer this question first.
Reactions are considered rare, in part, because reporting is rare. Unlike reporting for human vaccine reactions, required by the National Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, reporting is voluntary for reactions experienced by animals. Furthermore, there is no federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) for animals as there is for humans, nor is there a National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). That does not mean that adverse events aren’t a serious a problem for animals. In fact, because animals are given numerous vaccines repeatedly (and unnecessarily) throughout their lives, rather than just in childhood, the problem is likely worse.
WSAVA Vaccination Group Guidelines (p. 18) recognizes that there is “gross under-reporting of vaccine-associated adverse events which impedes knowledge of the ongoing safety of these products.” AAHA (p. 19) says, “Although AE [adverse event] documentation in veterinary medicine is limited, severe adverse reactions are considered uncommon.” But if reporting is rare, how do they know?
Perhaps the biggest problem in underreporting is the failure to match an illness or problem to a vaccine. Read more »