MINNESOTA -- Action Alert The Board of Animal Health is planning a statewide rabies rule http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/statewide/archive/2011/01/minnesota-plans-statewide-rabies-rule.shtml (please copy and paste links into browser if they do not work by clicking on them). Below is the letter faxed to the State Veterinarian on behalf of the The Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust.

What You Can Do to Help:

Contact State Veterinarian, Dr. Hartman bill.hartmann@bah.state.mn.us 651-296-2942 and legislators http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/faq/faqtoc.asp?id=47 requesting them to create a protocol requiring pets to be vaccinated according to rabies vaccine manufacturers' label instructions beginning at the age of 6 months and to include a medical exemption clause for animals too sick to be vaccinated. Ask all Minnesota pet owners to do the same.

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January 17, 2011

Dr. Bill Hartmann, State Veterinarian
Minnesota Board of Animal Health
625 Robert Street North
St. Paul, MN 55155

RE: Rabies Vaccination Rulemaking for Minnesota Pets

Greetings Dr. Hartmann:

It has come to our attention that the Minnesota Board of Animal Health is in the process of developing a rabies vaccination rule for Minnesota’s dogs, cats, and ferrets to establish a consistent rabies protocol throughout the state.

The Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust respectfully requests that your Department consider drafting the new rule based, in part, on the language contained in Florida’s rabies statute, Title XLVI Chapter 828, and that initial vaccination be required at the age of six (6) months as in the protocols of Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, and West Virginia. Florida, along with the states of Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin all have medical exemption clauses in their rabies regulations for animals deemed by a veterinarian to be too ill to be vaccinated, and we request that Minnesota’s new regulation include a similar exemption.

Below is proposed language that The Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust asks that you consider in your deliberations:

(1) All dogs, cats, and ferrets 6 months of age or older must be vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian against rabies with a vaccine that is licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture for use in those species. The owner of every dog, cat, and ferret shall have the animal revaccinated 12 months after the initial vaccination. Thereafter, the interval between vaccinations shall conform to the vaccine manufacturer's directions. The cost of vaccination must be borne by the animal's owner.

(2) A dog, cat, or ferret is exempt from vaccination against rabies if a licensed veterinarian has examined the animal and has certified in writing that at the time vaccination would endanger the animal's health because of its age, infirmity, disability, illness, or other medical considerations. An exempt animal must be vaccinated against rabies as soon as its health permits.

(3) Upon vaccination against rabies, the licensed veterinarian shall provide the animal's owner and the animal control authority with a rabies vaccination certificate. Each animal control authority and veterinarian shall use the "Rabies Vaccination Certificate" of the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV) or an equivalent form approved by the local government that contains all the information required by the NASPHV Rabies Vaccination Certificate. The veterinarian who administers the rabies vaccine to an animal as required under this section may affix his or her signature stamp in lieu of an actual signature.

If you have any questions or would like further information, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Kris L. Christine
Founder & Co-Trustee
The Rabies Challenge Fund
http://www.RabiesChallengeFund.org
ledgespring@lincoln.midcoast.com

cc: Dr. W. Jean Dodds
Dr. Ronald Schultz
Minnesota Legislature