I found this article interesting in the Mail on Saturday:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1255863/Vaccines-making-dogs-sick-vets-cash-in.html

Did you see Animal 24:7 on BBC on Friday morning? An RSPCA inspector had a report of "a house full of dogs that never were walked" and he arrived to find a man with 6 Shih Tzus plus a litter of pups. All the dogs looked to be in good condition, all were clipped so were not matted or dirty. The pups were kept separate and looked in good condition too. The inspector said the man had to improve the condition of the kitchen floor (hard to see what it really looked like but nothing obvious again), and also *he must get all his dogs vaccinated as they were behind on boosters*, PLUS he must reduce numbers and spay the bitches. He visited twice and the second time said if the bitches weren't spayed , the vaccinations carried out and the numbers reduced, they would seize the dogs. What I would like to know is, HOW???? and why? There was nothing obviously wrong at all. Sure he was probably a back yard breeder, but what is there to say you cannot keep 6 dogs when they are looked after, and that you MUST keep up with booster vaccinations? On the third visit the man had rehomed all his bitches and the pups , kept the dogs only, and then the inspector was satisfied but said he would check back again.

Apparently though according to the RSPCA annual vaccinations is duty of care.

I think it depends on where you live too. In the cities with high densities of dogs and cats and foxes, I'd be more likely to vaccinate annually, my dog against lepto in particular, and my cat against FELV.

> All the dogs looked to be in good condition, all were clipped so were not matted or dirty. The pups were kept separate and looked in good condition too.

*Sigh*   I wish they would concentrate on the owners of poor fighting dogs, that don't even get their wounds seen by a vet.

Three of my dogs went overdue on boosters last year! 

Does this make me a bad owner? 

I wish the RSPCA would get their priorities right!  No wonder my vet has strict instructions not to let my dogs go to the RSPCA if anything happens to me.  I wouldn't want them put down by captive bolt!  Oh!!!  They make me so cross. 

I wish the RSPCA would get their facts right (I'm not rubishing the RSPCA) some of them do a brilliant job, but, if they looked at the vaccine manufacturers info they would see that parvo/distemper is not an annual booster but a 3 yearly booster.  

It is my opinion. there is nothing gained by yearly boosters. we do not vaccinate our children every year! in my opinion boosters have no effect on the immunity levels of effectively vaccinated dogs.
There has been a lot of dogs loose there lives being over vaccinated. there is also concern that vaccines many have some unwanted side effects. Dogs of eleven years old involves two to three boosters rather than eight to nine.   Research shows that every 3-4years.Is the best.
Vets that are not truthful to you is Greed not Need.  

There has been a lot of dogs loose there lives being over vaccinated

Sadly, this is what happened to my last dog aged only 3 years old

> Animal 24:7

Slightly off topic here but as this programme has been mentioned. I was watching sometime last week & there was an old man who had 4 dogs & the rented accommodation allowed 2. 2 were taken from him Mother & daughter. The mother was well tempered but the daughter was extreamly frightened. The inspector put a rope lead on and low & behold it was on the wrong way so when the dog pulled it got tighter & tighter, not releasing. Well if they don't know the right way to put a lead of that type one what hope is there???

I have lost 3 dogs due to vaccination now ages 4,4,and 7.  I titre test now instead of routinely vaccinate.

How much does it cost to have a titre test done? We have had our labs booster done each year she is four now and never shown any side effects but I do wonder as the dog we had before (Golden Retriever) was diagnosed with cancer in her neck one month to six weeks after her booster.  Nothing was ever mentioned about a possible cause. She was six years old.

Approx £40-£50.

The inspector said .... *he must get all his dogs vaccinated as they were behind on boosters*,

I wonder why this was such an issue given that the dogs were never walked ?!

The Vaccinations Guidelines Group from the WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association) published vaccination guidelines in 2007 stating that core vaccines only needed boosting every 3 years, as long as a puppy had a primary course plus a booster at 12 months.  Yet vets here still promote annual boosters.  My vet tried to put me off having titre tests done because they said it would be very difficult to get hold of the individual vaccine components if the titre test showed only parts of the usually combined vaccines were required.

I then received a very stern lecture from the veterinary nurse (not a qualified VN at that) about how I was putting my bitch and puppies at risk because I refused to give her an annual booster.  The evidence is there but nobody wants to listen to it, it's all about money to vets, drug companies etc.

And as far as I am aware the RSPCA have no right to enforce vaccinations, but no doubt they are trying to bend the Animal Welfare Act to what they wish

> And as far as I am aware the RSPCA have no right to enforce vaccinations, but no doubt they are trying to bend the Animal Welfare Act to what they wish

Despite what you may see on TV involving RSPCA, they are not always as intrusive as that. A friend whose landlord reported them to the RSPCA for 'keeping animals in dirty conditions' recently, told me that when the Inspector came round he just looked at where the animals were allowed in the home, recommended a bit of tidying up, and that's all....seemed embarrassed at having to check out in the first place.

Did not ask if animals were neutered or vacc'd. Did not snoop into other rooms where the animals were not allowed access. He came back 2 wks later to see if tidying was done, and said all was fine, and it had been 'marginal' anyway on first visit, but had had to come and check back as per regs.

AWA was apparently read out to friend (Five Freedoms etc) and leaflet given but vaccination was NOT questioned at all. Likewise no asking of what vet they go to, flea/worming, neutering or not, not even asked what was being fed. Apparently he only recorded the two animals' names, breed and age.

I can only guess that this was because friend's animals were obviously in peak of mental & physical health & condition despite the rather squalid surroundings, which owner was having to put up with too & was down to the crappy landlord, who reported them in the first place!

>core vaccines only needed boosting every 3 years, as long as a puppy had a primary course plus a booster at 12 months. 

Leptospirosis, one of the core vaccines, still requires an annual booster. It's distemper, hepatits and parvovirus that can wait for a three-year booster.

Like most of you here my vet always says they have to have the yearly booster, but i did miss it last year on my 2 4 year olds first time ever,
and now vet says as i missed their booster they have  to have the whole course of 3 jabs all over again same as when they were puppys, is this right?

According to WSAVA leptospirosis is non core except in high risk areas though I agree this does need annual boosters to maintain protection.  They actually warn that this is one of the vaccines least likely to provide adequate, prolonged protection and may even require administration at 6-9 monthly intervals to be most effective, it is also the vaccine most likely to cause serious adverse reactions.  The BSAVA states it does endorse these guidelines, but the recommendations do not seem to have filtered through to practising vets despite it being almost 3 years since publication.

http://www.wsava.org/PDF/Misc/VGG_09_2007.pdf

i missed their booster they have  to have the whole course of 3 jabs all over again same as when they were puppys, is this right?

No is the answer, they only need one jab not 3 and not even 2!  The reason pups are given two shots is that the first shot (if given before 12 weeks of age) cancels out maternal antibodies and leaves the pups open to catching the diseases, so they then have to have a 2nd shot to put back the antibodies.  IF a pup is vaccinated as soon as the maternal antibodies wane (this is approx 12 weeks) then only one shot is necessary.

Lepto is another kettle of fish and as someone said on here it only covers for a short length of time and not necessarily the strains found within the UK.  So you are damned if you do and damned if you don't on this one!

  

I saw the "animal 24/7" with the shih tzus . Typical RSPCA, making out that they are so caring and sticking to the AWA in front of a tv camera but doing nothing when dogs are kept in much worse circumstances when there are no cameras for them to "act" in front of. Those shih tzus were quite clearly healthy, well fed and groomed animals, ok they werent walked but how can the RSPCA make this an issue when they couldnt give a dam about dogs that are locked up 24/7 and never get out for more than 10 mins in 24 hours. They make me so angry with their double standards, they are just a bunch of money grabbing publicity seekers.

Chelzeagirl, vets will say that because they make massive profits from these jabs!!!  The contents in the phials apparently cost them pennies and they sell it on to us for £45/£55 and I read a book some time back saying that we are over innoculating our animals and it's causing their immunity systems to weaken andthey don't need it after the first few months. 

Seemingly they get lifelong immunity from probably all but one of their puppy jabs (like children do) so why would we keep pumping this chemical stuff into them year after year!  I know a lot of breeders and they don't do it as they say it isn't good for them and it's a money-making venture for vets!!! I bet they really scaremonger old ladies whose little dog is their best friend!!!  And what are these 'titre' tests?  Having been a multiple dog owner all my life, I'd never heard of it until recent years??!!

I questioned my vet some time back and quoted pieces from the book I read and he admitted that the jabs last anything from three to seven years and possibly lifelong but he did mention one (?) that should be done more often.  I wouldn't be surprised if the reason there are so many cancers in dogs is partly due to these injections because for many years when I was growing up we had at least two or three dogs at a time, none were injected and all lived to old ages, whereas some dogs I and my friends have had over the years that used to be boosted annually have had tumours and have died through cancer but years ago dogs lived healthily for a much longer time than most do now!

My three dogs don't get boosters now, whereas my previous ones did, but they often got ear infections, lumps and bumps etc, so we'll see how we go having only had the two puppy jabs. We have more info available to us now, with the internet and forums etc we can all discuss and learn more these days and question the vets!!!

>I read a book some time back saying that we are over innoculating our animals and it's causing their immunity systems to weaken andthey don't need it after the first few months.

Incorrect. Just because something's written in a book (or on the net) doesn't mean it's true.

>Seemingly they get lifelong immunity from probably all but one of their puppy jabs (like children do)

Again, that's been proven to be untrue in many cases. Children also need boosters of certain diseases up until school leaving age.

> he did mention one (?) that should be done more often.

That would be leptospirosis, that needs to be boosted at least annually (and despite what you hear spouted about, those particular strains of lepto are found this country, and can be caught (and transmitted to humans) by dogs).

>I wouldn't be surprised if the reason there are so many cancers in dogs is partly due to these injections because for many years when I was growing up we had at least two or three dogs at a time, none were injected and all lived to old ages,

My more recent dogs have lived longer, healthier lives than the ones we had back in the 50s, 60s and 70s, and were rarely injected. My last one to die (a few days ago) was 15 years old and had been boosted every year of her life. No cancer, only the general frailty of old age, just like my (unboosted!) mother is suffering.

That would be leptospirosis, that needs to be boosted at least annually (and despite what you hear spouted about, those particular strains of lepto are found this country, and can be caught (and transmitted to humans) by dogs).

I'm wondering why humans are not boostered every year from this then???  If there was such a risk to humans then surely we would be routinely called up each year like with the flu vaccine (although the vaccine strain for flu does change each year my GP informs me).

>I'm wondering why humans are not boostered every year from this then??? 

People whose jobs or lifestyle make them more at risk from catching it (pest control officers, waterways staff etc) that I know are certainly offered the leptospirosis vaccine routinely each year.

The flu vaccine doesn't always change - it depends on what strain/s of flu are predicted to reach us each year.

My GP says that the flu vaccine changes each year as does the flu virus, so I am inclined to believe my GP on this one.

I tend to believe my GP too, and she tells me that it's not a different vaccine each year.

I give flu vaccinations regularly, they do change each year if neccessary, depending on research findings looking at which strains of the virus are likely to be prevalent in the season, for instance the 2010 vaccine should include protection against the 2009 H1N1 (swine flu) strain