AR-News: ISRAEL: RABIES, DOGS, & POISONINGS - UPDATED FACTS

[CHAI]

ISRAEL: RABIES, DOGS, CATS & POISONINGS – THE FACTS 

LETTERS NEEDED: SEE BELOW - PLEASE CROSS-POST WIDELY

Because inaccurate information was posted on the web on this issue,
Concern for Helping Animals in Israel (CHAI) is providing the following
facts:

Distribution of the oral rabies vaccine in Israel has reduced rabies in
the north from 30-40 cases per year before 2000 to zero and is expected
to end rabies in the center of the country within a few months, except
for occasional cases brought by animals coming in from the West Bank,
said the Veterinary Services' official in charge of the vaccine's
distribution, Dr. Boris Jacobson. The vaccine has been distributed in
Israel since 1998 and is currently being distributed throughout the
entire country, thanks to a $1.5 million annual budget granted through
2005.

Distribution of the vaccine and the Veterinary Services' recent
agreement to end the mass poisonings of animals, until now the method
used to control the spread of the disease, is the result of a many
years-long campaign by Concern for Helping Animals in Israel's (CHAI).
Pending the results of a trial of more humane capture and control
methods recommended at a July 2003 conference co-sponsored by CHAI and
the Veterinary Services, "that’s the end of the poisonings," said
Veterinary Services’ Field Director, Dr. Haimovitch. Launching of the
trial, delayed by a long government strike and bureaucracy, has finally
been approved by the Health Ministry and a committee within the
Veterinary Services and is expected to begin this spring.

When, in a few months, rabies cases in the center become rare, killing
unvaccinated stray animals will, for the most part, end altogether.
Though rabies vaccinations are required in Israel, many people do not
vaccinate their companion animals. As long as there are unvaccinated
animals on the streets and in people's homes, says Dr. Boris Jacobson,
the Vet Services official in charge of the vaccination distribution,
there will still be individual cases of rabies and the need to act to
protect public health and the health of other animals.

Until the effects of the distribution campaign in the center are seen,
in the vicinity where each rabid animal is found, the Veterinary
Services says it will continue to pick up and either quarantine for 6
months or euthanize with injections of sodium pentobarbital, depending
on whether they have responsible caretakers, all unvaccinated animals
who may have come in contact with a rabid animal and who may, therefore,
present a threat to people and other animals, as recommended by the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The head of the CDC's Rabies
Division, Dr. Charles Rupprecht, says: “Cats are a very important rabies
vector
there are more rabid cats than rabid dogs.”

The Vet Services has no statistics on the number of rabid animals found
among all animals trapped and euthanized in the area where a rabid
animal was discovered because it does not send them for testing. Where
trappers are unable to capture stray cats, either because of deliberate
interference by individuals, or because the cat will not enter the trap,
the poison Tardemon will be used, though no poison was used in Kfar
Saba. In Givat Ada, another location where a rabid animal was found, the
municipal vet claims that unvaccinated cats who could not be caught with
traps were given the poison Tardemon, but were picked up when they
became groggy and workers could approach them, and were euthanized as
soon as possible. 

CHAI deplores the use of poison and looks forward to it being banned
altogether following a trial of more humane approaches.

See www.chai-online.org for details.

LETTERS NEEDED:
 
Please send (polite only, please) e-mails to the following two
government officials:
 
To: Minister of the Interior, Avraham Poraz
sar at moin.gov.il or aporaz at knesset.gov.il 

or snail mail to:

Mr. Avraham Poraz, Minister of the Interior
Ministry of the Interior
2 Kaplan Street
Jerusalem
Israel

The Rabies Law was revised several times since it was enacted in the
1930’s. Please ask Mr. Poraz to act to make the following additional
changes: 

1. Eliminate the provision that allows municipal vets to enter people's
homes and seize their animals, even if they are vaccinated; 

2. Eliminate the provision that permits the use of strychnine poison,
which causes asphyxiation during convulsions over a period up to 24
hours. The Veterinary Services has made a commitment to ban the use of
strychnine following a successful trial of more humane methods. As soon
as the trial has been completed successfully, the ban should be made
law.

3.  Implement desperately needed repairs to municipal pounds around the
country and also enlarge these facilities that house both cats and dogs,
every day of the year, not just during a rabies outbreak. Thanks to the
government’s distribution of the oral rabies vaccine, rabies outbreaks
in the center are soon expected to become rare occurrence, though if
necessary, improved municipal pounds could also serve as quarantine
stations.  
 
4. Ban T-61, a drug that causes intense pain if not administered at a
very precise rate and that causes paralysis and suffocation before the
animal loses consciousness.   

AND 

TO: Israel Katz, Minister of Agriculture
sar at moag.gov.il 

or snail mail to:

Mr. Israel Katz, Minister of Agriculture
Ministry of Agriculture
14 Arnia Street
Hakirya
Tel Aviv
Israel

Please ask Mr. Katz to implement the following changes:

1. Eliminate the requirement to quarantine animals who were not directly
exposed to a rabid animal, who had a rabies vaccination and a booster
one year later, and who are current on their subsequent vaccinations. 

A study on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website found that no
animal who received these vaccinations got rabies even if bitten by a
rabid animal. Quarantine facilities are old, cages small, and the
facilities are not in a good state of repair. There is typically no
enrichment or even bedding and guardians are not permitted to visit
their animals during the lengthy quarantine period. Most important, to
quarantine vaccinated animals encourages irresponsibility on the part of
the public, who may see no point in getting their animals vaccinated if
they will be quarantined whether or not they have received a
vaccination.

2. Require rabies vaccinations only every 3 years after the initial
vaccination and booster, rather than annually. 

The CDC states that "No laboratory or epidemiologic data support the
annual or biennial administration of 3-year vaccines following the
initial series." Manufacturers of the vaccine have stated, including on
the bottles, that they last for 3 years. Annual vaccinations cause
cancer (sarcomas) in some animals, and it will be less expensive and
easier for people to comply with vaccination regulations if they only
need to get their animals vaccinated every 3 years. 

3. Initiate a public education campaign to teach responsible behavior
toward animals and to help prevent rabies, including altering and
vaccinating them and keeping dogs on leashes or in confined areas. 

Rabies vaccinations are mandatory in Israel, as in the U.S., but
education is essential so that animal guardians will be sure to get
their companion animals vaccinated and so that they will treat their
companion animals responsibly.

VISIT: www.chai-online.org for more detailed, accurate information on
this subject.