tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19894060.post4404189116111198754..comments2023-07-28T11:21:59.499-04:00Comments on Briarwood Pups: Rabies Challenge Fund Meets First Year GoalBriarwood Pupshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903822021616888150noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19894060.post-13996894418169146082008-05-22T15:05:00.000-04:002008-05-22T15:05:00.000-04:00The rabies challenge fund is attempting to improve...The rabies challenge fund is attempting to improve the lives of many, many animals. If you can show me a different scientific study being done that meets the requirements that will help our government change our laws, then I would love to see it. Until then, this is the only group that is willing to go out and do what needs to be done for the betterment of everyone. If there is any blame to be laid for how the study is done, then blame the lawmakers who will accept no other type of evidence. If you can convince our government to listen to foreign studies instead of ignoring imperical evidence just because it wasn't done in the US to their standards, then whose fault is it that we still have to over-vaccinate and cause irrevocable damange to our loving companions? Don't slam an organization that is trying to make the world a better place. I can't wait for the day when I don't have to give my 5 pound pug puppy the same rabies shot that a full grown St. Bernard gets. If you have a better way of doing it, then do it! And let me know when you have your website up!Briarwood Pupshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05903822021616888150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19894060.post-73820699351245164052008-05-22T14:54:00.000-04:002008-05-22T14:54:00.000-04:00It's interesting that the Rabies Challenge Fund fo...It's interesting that the Rabies Challenge Fund folks are now saying they will attempt to make changes to the protocol after the experiments have begun on beagles (even though it is highly unlikely the USDA will agree to that since the experiments have already begun). So it is still likely that many dogs will die and many will die excruciating deaths. <BR/><BR/>As far as I can tell, RCF has made no attempts to date to get a serological protocol approved. The experiments being conducted by RCF are purely elective. Why not design a tenable serological protocol that can be approved by USDA? A serological method would allow data to be collected from volunteers rather than dogs stuck in a laboratory. Why were none of these efforts made before PETA began to shine a spotlight on the myriad of problems with RCF's plans? <BR/><BR/>With regards to RCF's statement that PETA should be working on this issue, we are indeed working on non-animal protocols for vaccine testing at both the USDA and the FDA. PETA has spent more than a quarter million dollars in recent years to develop non-animal testing methods. We're very happy to put our money where our mouth is!<BR/><BR/>Despite repeated requests, the RCF folks have refused to provide details including:<BR/><BR/>. the actual number of dogs involved in each study. The USDA gives only the minimum number of dogs that they must have data for at the culmination of the study, so logically RCF must use more dogs than the USDA's minimum of 70. However, RCF will not even answer this simple question.<BR/><BR/>. the conditions and socialization for the dogs. Dodds referred PETA to USDA's protocol for this information. USDA's protocol does not specify that dogs should be socialized or that they should receive toys or even a bed. <BR/><BR/>. how and when the dogs would be killed. RCF referred PETA to the USDA protocol for this information. USDA's protocol stipulates that even vaccinated dogs are to be killed and their brains examined. This is in direct contradiction RCF's current claim that it will adopt out the dogs who don't die.<BR/><BR/>RCF makes it appear that dogs will be killed at the first signs of rabies. Rabies is painful and its symptoms can begin quietly. Dogs will likely die of painful complications related to paralysis and inability to breathe. <BR/><BR/>No one is disputing how the immune system works and that dogs are most likely being over-vaccinated in many ways. However, a way to combat this is not to launch yet another study that will kill even more dogs.<BR/><BR/>Much more good could have come from an effort to change the way rabies vaccine efficacy is tested rather than to use more than $1 million to kill beagles.<BR/><BR/>We encourage the RCF to do better! They could not be doing much worse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19894060.post-4758986079666696172008-05-21T10:45:00.000-04:002008-05-21T10:45:00.000-04:00http://blog.helpinganimals.com/2008/05/when_the_en...http://blog.helpinganimals.com/2008/05/when_the_ends_dont_justify_the.phpAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19894060.post-64907499328109165792008-05-21T10:44:00.000-04:002008-05-21T10:44:00.000-04:00http://blog.helpinganimals.com/2008/05/when_the_en...http://blog.helpinganimals.com/2008/05/when_the_ends_dont_justify_the.php<BR/>This is really outrageous. As many of you know, I despise the fact that rabies vaccinations are required for dogs every three years and even annually in some states. I've read about all the adverse reactions and the belief of many holistic vets that rabies vaccinations confer immunity for a lifetime. Nobody would like to see the laws changed to allow dogs to be vaccinated for rabies less frequently more than I would. However, I draw the line at torturing animals in order to accomplish that. <BR/>Apparently, some people have no such scruples, such as two people whom I admired and respected up until recently, when I read the "Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust Research Study" for which one of them is fundraising and the other is the principal investigator. In this study, two rather large groups of beagles (each with at least 35 members―it's not known exactly how many) will be isolated for five years or seven years, depending on the group; at least 25 of them will be vaccinated; and then they will all be injected with rabies virus to see who dies and who doesn't. The man doing the experiment is Ronald Schultz, D.V.M., chair of pathobiology at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine and an outspoken critic of the laws regarding rabies vaccinations, and the person raising the funds for the experiment is none other than W. Jean Dodds, D.V.M., a veteran of the holistic veterinary medical community. I find this terribly disturbing and hypocritical.<BR/><BR/>Death by rabies is ugly indeed. The virus infects the brain, causing encephalitis, and can also attack the spinal cord. There can be everything from fever and flu-like symptoms to anxiety, confusion, erratic behavior, aggression, disorientation, seizures, partial paralysis, coma, and death from respiratory arrest. One of the horrible aspects of the disease is that the jaw and throat become paralyzed, making it impossible to drink or even swallow one's own saliva, causing the characteristic drooling.<BR/>Of course, none of this is mentioned in Dodds' fundraising. I doubt that she would get a dime if it were. She is soliciting funds from dog lovers of all kinds, preying on their fears for their own dogs' health while totally misleading them. Her Web site and her flier contain not a single word about the negative aspects and gruesome details of the actual experiment. This is deceitful at best. The idea of torturing upwards of 70 dogs in order to improve the health of the rest of the dog population is no different from deciding to torture 70 children in order to improve the health of other children. Those 70 dogs matter! Each one matters! None of them wants to die a horrible death, be killed prematurely, or spend their entire life in a kennel.<BR/><BR/>We all want our own dogs to be healthy, but people with true compassion don't want that to be at the expense of any other dogs. I'm sorry to have to say it, but in this experiment, the ends, as laudable as they are, do not justify the means.<BR/>A better way to spend the $1.25 million being raised for these experiments would be to develop an acceptable serological method to test for rabies antibodies and immunity to the rabies virus.<BR/>If you agree, why not shoot Dr. Dodds an e-mail at hemopet@hotmail.com and let her know how you feel?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com