Petition to Waive Center for Disease Control and Prevention New Rabies Restrictions for Canadian Breeders

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have published new guidelines for importing dogs to the United States. The CDC does not require a health certificate to be imported into the United States, but does require that dogs must be vaccinated against rabies.  Their guidelines state that puppies must not be vaccinated against rabies before three months of age, so the youngest that a puppy can be imported into the United States is four months of age. There is a list of rabies free countries that these guidelines do not apply to.

There is a petition that is asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention waive these guidelines and restrictions for Canadian breeders. The information contained in the petition is below. The petition is available online here.

“We recently became aware of the change to the pup entry requirements, requiring that all pups be vaccinated for rabies a month before entry to the US. I understand that the CDC is working to ensure that Rabies is not brought across US borders. However, I believe that this new law will have unintended consequences, and is not the best option to protect public health.

Most puppies are bred by responsible small scale breeders, and was well socialised and lovingly raised. Such small scale breeders will not be able to afford to continue to raise dogs, as many of their dogs are taken home by US families. The additional cost of rearing pups from 9 to 16 weeks of age, in time, attention, and food, is prohibitive for such small scale breeders. Puppy mills will be much less affected, as they do not expend the same level of care. This law will result in fewer well socialized Canadian dogs going to US families. Poorly socialised dogs are more likely to bite, and are more often surrendered to shelters for behavioural problems.

This new regulation, will also put breeders in violation of Kennel Licenses. In most areas a hobby/breeding kennel restricts the number of dogs from 8 to 10 depending on the township. Once puppies reach the age of 12 weeks they are then considered adult dogs.

People traveling abroad to obtain single family pets or quality breeding stock from foreign breeders are among the most dedicated dog owners. People who go to that kind of time and expense are not allowing their dogs to roam at large, and they are likely to abide by Rabies regulations.

In the case of Canadian puppies, the Canadian international health certificate could be required for each underage pup, ensuring that the pup was healthy. In addition, it would be possible to stipulate that only one or perhaps two pups could be imported at a time, and that the new owner must accompany the pup. This would make it highly unlikely that large numbers of questionably healthy pups would be transported across the border. Persons wishing to import larger numbers of pups would need to follow the Rabies vaccination requirement, and not import pups younger than four months.

Persons who are illegally and surreptitiously importing dogs are not going to be deterred by entry requirements anyway, and they are the most likely to bring ill or infected animals into the country.

The new requirement will impact most heavily the responsible small breeders who can not afford to keep pups to four months of age.
The new requirement will negatively impact the genetic variability of dog breeds, by decreasing availability of Canadian pups.
The new requirement will decrease options for pet owners, who typically want to adopt a pup around nine weeks of age, when it is ready to go to a new home and will adapt most easily.
Requiring personal owner pick up and transport of unvaccinated 9 to 12 week old pups with a valid international health certificate will ensure that dedicated owners are obtaining these pups. These people are not going to risk their animal’s health from Rabies. This will protect public health while maintaining genetic diversity and allowing US pet owners the maximum options for pet ownership.

http://www.cdc.gov/animalimportation/dogs.html

We ask that the CDC waive the rabies restriction for Canadian breeders.”

Short URL: http://caninechronicle.com/?p=54802

Posted by chesliepickett on Aug 11 2014. Filed under Breaking News, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.