Depending on where you are, technically the Vet is the only one legally able to give the vaccine, not even the techs. It's their name on the paperwork, they must issue and sign for the tag, and it's their butt on the line. However, some states & communities don't have the requirements like others and owners can give a rabies vaccine...just like some will allow a 3yr vaccine while others say it must be every year.

personally, i would like to see the whole attitude toward rabies vaccine turned around. the reason for immunization should primarily be for the protection of the animal as well as other animals and humans that it comes in contact with. so how does that make rabies vaccine any different than parvo, lepto, influ, etc? why shouldn't any breeder or owner be able to vaccinate his own dog the same as other immunizations? furthermore, vaccinating against rabies is not 100% fool proof. no vaccine is. there is still a slim chance that if your vaccinated dog were exposed to rabies, he could still become infected. perhaps this is the thinking behind the legal issues for vaccination. "we did everything right....so we can't be held accountable." doesn't matter, though. if your dog becomes infected and bites someone, you will be held accountable. vaccine or no vaccine. somebody correct me if this is not so, but seems like i read once that the risk of being bitten by a rabid cat was much higher than by dog. partly because people are not vaccinating cats and partly because there are so many strays. who vaccinates farm cats? maybe more cats would be vaccinated if the vaccine were available to owners. same with dogs. so maybe the better answer would be to have more animals vaccinated instead of imposing strict regulations???

The bottom line is that people are stupid. Most people CAN NOT give a vaccine properly, even when given clear and easy to follow instructions. They don't understand why the vaccine must be thrown out if allowed to get to room temp. (honestly I think most people think it is a racket to get more money out of them).

Even though I feel confident that I could give a rabies vaccine, I would never support legislation that allowed anyone to give it because of the risk to everyone's health from improperly vaccinated animals. You wouldn't believe how many BYB dogs vets see with parvo, that were supposedly vaccinated by the "breeders." Imagine if kids could get parvo, and then you see the problem with allowing the public to give rabies vaccines. Distemper combo vaccines are a canine health issue; rabies vaccination is a public health issue.

There isn't enough post-exposure injection to go around as it is (hence the high cost), but if we really didn't know if any animal had been vaccinated for rabies (people will lie to avoid fines, so can't trust the owner that the dog was vaccinated) the shortage would reach catastrophic proportions.

I am all for fewer rabies vaccines, but allowing joe public to give them is another matter.

Originally posted by Chuck Croom:
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So here is what I would like to know:

Need to know how to get the vet to do a titer test instead of a Booster every yr?
Or how offten to have a titer done?

My vet is telling me that Rottweiler’s are more prone to parvo. Is this true? Most states have laws governing when you have to do Rabies, and who is allowed to administer the vaccine.

Rotties and parvo...a very very big YES. I have 2 friends/club members who have rotties - one has 20+ imports and occassional pups. He is PARANOID about germs and parvo. He won't come to club or go to a show when he has a newborn litter, and is ultra careful and no pup goes anywhere from a litter until vaccinated. Parvo is still floating around, it is still deadly. Just had an outbreak of it locally about 2 months ago - my friend who has a big equine clinic saw 3 Rott cross pups that one of his horse clients bought/rescued from a local farm that got sick right after bringing them home. I know that about half the pups from that litter did not make it, and they were 9 weeks old or so.


As far as Rabies vaccine, some states do not have restrictions on who can give it and some do. Our state does. Horse adn Farm vets will routinely vaccinate barn cats - for everyone's protection. The vaccine is known to be effective normally longer than one year, but the law here says 1 year on cats, 3 on dogs after the first series of 2 shots a year apart. Big fines if you do not have the shots. If you are at high risk, dogs encounter raccoons and skunks, get the shots. A friend had a raccoon come into her fenced yard, fight with her 4 dogs, and she tried to break up the fight. If she had not had the dogs vaccinated, she would have had major heartache - as it was, she had to quaranteen the dogs for 6 months and undergo rabies treatment herself.