Allow farmers to deliver rabies vaccine says dairy farmer

by SUSAN MANN

Pringle raised the issue at a regular annual event hosted by the Grey-Bruce Health Unit that brings together those involved in controlling the disease within the area. He’s vice-chair of the unit’s board of health.

He suggests that it’s too hard for farmers to catch their barn cats and take them to a vet clinic. Yet, under current provincial government regulations rabies vaccinations are mandatory for dogs and cats and must be given by a licensed veterinarian. (Horses, cows, bulls, calves and sheep are exempt from the vaccinations if they are accessible only to those responsible for their care).

There are a number of reasons why vets should be giving the vaccines, says Doug Raven, executive director of the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association, the organization representing Ontario’s more than 3,000 vets.

“You at least want someone who is knowledgeable about cats to have a quick look at them to make sure there are no health issues that might cause complications once that vaccine is given,” he explains, adding the regulation is in place to protect the animal.

Another reason is the vet can maintain records on what vaccine has been used and the length of time it’s effective. There are some rabies vaccines now that last three years.

Farmers don’t necessarily have to round up their cats and take them to a vet clinic, Raven says, because vets can do the vaccinations while they’re on the farm doing herd health work or treating sick animals.

Pringle says getting the animals rounded up for vaccination during one visit is unrealistic. Farmers will likely catch the first one or two cats and “after that it’s not going to happen.”

That’s because more than half of the barn cats on farms are wild, he says. “They’re not really family pets,” he told Better Farming in a phone interview. “I have a few that you might rub their heads and you might have them close by all the time, but if you want to pick them up and pet them that’s not going to happen.” If farmers had the serum they’d be able to do the vaccinations over a few days as they’re able to catch the cats, he suggests.

The idea of farmers vaccinating their own cats hasn’t come up for discussion at Ontario Federation of Agriculture meetings but president Geri Kamenz says it would be a good idea. Many farmers have taken the Livestock Medicines course “and if you tied it to something like that I think you would improve the rabies vaccination process in the province.”

In January, rabies found in a litter of puppies in Perth County sparked a province-wide health scare with hundreds of people who came into contact with the animals requiring a post-exposure vaccine.

However, since the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has been distributing rabies vaccines in baits, disease occurrences within the province have actually decreased dramatically, says Adam McCallister, a spokesperson with MNR’s rabies research development unit. The baits are used to vaccinate foxes, raccoons and skunk. In recent years, rabies cases in foxes and raccoons have ranged from 40 to 44 compared to 2,000 in the mid-1980s.

Bats are still a concern because there isn’t a way to vaccinate them broadly. “Their density is a lot higher and they don’t consume the vaccine bait,” McAllister says. “We don’t’ have a way to immunize them against rabies.” Each year there are about 50 cases of bat rabies in Ontario. 

There are different strains of the rabies virus but any mammal including people can catch any strain and the disease is fatal. BF