NEWS Update -- Rabies Challenge Fund

[Guest guest]

This just in from Kris Christine!!

 

* * * * * * * *Begin Forward* * * * * * * *

 

Greetings All!

 

Some big news for The Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust: thanks

to graphic designer, Andrea Brin, it now has its own website at

http://www.rabieschallengefund.org/ . If you read the text of the press release

below,

you'll see the other big news is that Dr. Ronald Schultz of the University of

Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine has volunteered his time to conduct the

5

and 7 year canine rabies challenge studies. If you recall, Dr. Schultz's

research forms part of the scientific base for the American Animal Hospital

Association's 2003 and 2006 Canine Vaccine Guidelines. The December

2006/January

2007 (Vol. 8, Issue 6) Animal Wellness Magazine features an article by Ann

Brightman on the RCF entitled, How Often Does He REALLY Need a Rabies Shot? and

Get

Out Your Wallets, Rabies Challenge Fund a Reality by Nancy Freedman Smith at

A Dog's Life and http://www.mainetoday.com/pets/dogslife/.

Since last year, Dr. W. Jean Dodds, of Hemopet and Co-Trustee of The

Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust, and her staff have donated their time to

ensure these vital studies are conducted for the benefit of our canine

companions.

We hope you'll join us in this effort, too! PERMISSION GRANTED TO POST

AND CROSS-POST THIS MESSAGE.

 

Regards, Kris L. Christine

Founder, Co-Trustee

The Rabies Challenge Fund

http://www.rabieschallengefund.org/

 

World-Famous Scientists Donate Services to

The Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust

 

Two world-renowned giants of veterinary vaccine research -- Dr. W. Jean

Dodds of Hemopet and Co-Trustee of The Rabies Challenge Fund and Dr. Ronald

Schultz of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine -- have

volunteered their time to ensure that critical 5 and 7 year rabies challenge

studies are conducted in the United States. The studies are to be financed by

The

Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust, a tax-exemption organization founded

by pet vaccine disclosure advocate Kris L. Christine of Maine in 2005, and will

be performed by Dr. Schultz at the University of Wisconsin. The University

has waived its usual 48% overhead fee for these studies.

 

The concurrent challenge studies will determine the duration of

immunity conveyed by the canine rabies vaccine, with the goal of extending the

state-mandated interval for boosters to 5, and then to 7 years. According to

Dr. Dodds, “This is one of the most important projects in veterinary medicine.

It will benefit all dogs by providing evidence that protection from rabies

vaccination lasts at least 5 years, thereby avoiding unnecessary revaccination

with its attendant risk of debilitating adverse reactions. "

 

Scientific data indicate that vaccinating dogs against rabies every three

years, as most states require, is unnecessary. Studies have shown the duration

of

protective immunity as measured by serum antibody titers against rabies virus

to persist for seven years post-vaccination, and results of a 1992 French

challenge study led by Michel Aubert demonstrated dogs were immune to rabies

five

years after vaccination. Researchers believe the rabies vaccine causes the

most and worst adverse reactions in animals and concur that it should not be

given more often than is necessary to maintain immunity. Adverse reactions to

rabies vaccination can include autoimmune diseases affecting the thyroid,

joints, blood, eyes, skin, kidney, liver, bowel and central nervous system;

anaphylactic shock; aggression; seizures; epilepsy; and fibrosarcomas at

injection

sites.

 

Dr. Schultz states that “howing that a vaccine for rabies can

provide 5 or preferably 7 years of immunity would have great significance not

only in controlling rabies but more importantly in reducing the adverse

vaccine reactions that can occur in dogs and cats after vaccination. "

More information on The Rabies Challenge Fund and the concurrent 5 and 7 year

challenge studies it will finance can be found at the fund’s newly

established website designed by volunteer Andrea Brin at:

www.rabieschallengefund.org.

To date, the following breed clubs, along with many pet owners, trainers,

breeders, and kennel owners have contributed to The Rabies Challenge Fund:

Akita Club of America

American Shih Tzu Club

Bernese Mountain Dog Club of Nashoba Valley

Bernese Mountain Club of SE Wisconsin

Capital City Cocker Club

Chesapeake, Virginia Dog Fanciers Association

Collie Club of Georgia

Dog Agility Racing Team of Chino

Great River Stockdog Club

Heart of Minnesota Great Dane Club

Kennel Club of Buffalo

Kerry Blue Terrier Foundation

Kishwaukee Kennel Club

Kuvasz Fanciers of America

Lehigh Valley Kennel Club

Miniature Schnauzer Club of Southern California

Northern Illinois Schutzhund Club

Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Club of Canada

Pacific NW Jack Russell Terrier Rescue Network

Soft-Coated Wheaton Terrier Club

Staffordshire Terrier Club of America

Standard Schnauzer Club of Southern California

Wachusett Kennel Club

Evergreen Empire Manchester Terrier Fanciers

* * * * * * * *End Forward* * * * * * * *

Dianne

Ravette-Jodevin Collies

Owner/Co-founder: Jstsayno2vaccs

Owner/Founder: HolisticGroomer

" A great dog is not defined by an absence of faults. A great dog is defined

by the presence and strength of his virtues. " - Joyce Avery, Ravette Collies