May 27, 2017 - August 21, 2019

Odie was only 2 years old, but he accomplished so much. He had completed his puppy, basic, intermediate and advanced obedience classes and earned his THD, CGCA, CGCU, THA and Achiever AKC Titles. But he was most happy working as a Certified Therapy Dog with Alliance of Therapy Dogs and Horizon Hospice of Spokane. He had over 100 therapy visits. His weekly visits to his Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care patients and staff were the highlight of his life. He truly enjoyed sharing his famous smile and showing off his vast inventory of tricks. He was so loved and needed in this community. Please honor his memory and his life that was needlessly cut short, please support the Rabies Challenge Fund.

The goal of The Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust is to extend the legally required interval for rabies boosters to 5 and then 7 years by financing the concurrent 5 and 7 year rabies challenge studies at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine and being conducted according to the USDA’s vaccine licensing code, Title 9 Section 113.209 by Dr. Ronald Schultz.

“Research has demonstrated that overvaccination can cause harmful adverse effects in dogs. Immunologically, the rabies vaccine is the most potent of the veterinary vaccines and associated with significant adverse reactions such as polyneuropathy resulting in muscular atrophy, inhibition or interruption of neuronal control of tissue and organ function, incoordination, and weakness, auto-immune hemolytic anemia, 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 are all linked to the rabies vaccine. It is medically unsound for this vaccine to be given more often than is necessary to maintain immunity, yet scientific research strongly indicates that the 3 year booster interval required by state laws may be unnecessary.”

We are our pet’s companions and caretakers. We are the only ones that can protect them. They rely on us as much as we rely on them. We owe it to them to know all the facts about potential adverse reactions due to rabies vaccinations or over vaccinating. Talk to your veterinarian and make sure they explain ALL the possible side effects. These side effects can require long term care and suffering and/or eventual euthanasia. Call and write your WA state legislature to ask for a change in WA state law allowing for a much needed medical exemption for dogs that are at risk for adverse reactions to the rabies vaccines. This includes older dogs or sick dogs as well as working dogs especially therapy and service dogs.

For more information on the Rabies Challenge Fund, see their website: www.rabieschallengefund.org