Nebraska bill LB25-wolf in sheep clothing?
By
Zuzana Kukol, 1/23/2007
The new bill
LB 25 recently introduced in Nebraska
Legislature seems almost harmless. Media is reporting it as a bill that
would require owners of wolf-dog hybrids to vaccinate their animals against
rabies.
Seems reasonable, unless you read the actual text of the bill, which will
make it blatantly clear should this horrible bill pass, that it can make a
precedent reaching far beyond the Nebraska state border.
Once you read the actual text it is clear that this bill would require
rabies vaccination for any hybrid between domestic dog and wolf (wolf dogs)
or domestic and wild cats (known as Bengals and Savannahs).
So what is the catch?
Well, the rabies vaccine has to be officially approved for use in wild
animal hybrids and be administered by veterinarian. The problem is, such a
vaccine doesn’t exist.
Many owners of wild animals and hybrids vaccinate their animals with
vaccines approved for domestic cats and dogs and the vaccine most likely
works, but it has never been officially approved as that would require
killing many animals to approve it officially.
So Nebraska is in effect asking for something that doesn’t exist, and the
only options Nebraska wild/domestic cat and dog hybrid owners have is to
place their cherished animals out of state or kill them within one year, or
to simply keep them illegally.
Now, how does this affect most of the USA?
It is in the language in the bill; it targets and in
effect bans animals for which rabies vaccine is not officially approved. LB
25 is discriminatory as it only targets dog and cat hybrids, so far...
The fact is all mammals can get rabies, but the only animals the rabies
vaccine is officially approved for in the USA are domestic dogs, cats,
ferrets, cattle, sheep and horses.
No rabies vaccines are currently licensed and approved for goats, pigs,
rabbits, rodents, exotic animals or captive wild animals.
So what does this mean for an average person ? What kind of precedent can
it set?
If Nebraska LB 25 passes, it will
crate a precedent anywhere in the USA for banning ANY mammal for which
rabies vaccine is not officially approved , meaning, this could close all
zoos, circuses, pig farms (no more pork roast or leather goods), 4H shows,
Easter bunnies, end laboratory mice research, pet snake food, etc...
However, when you look at the Nebraska rabies cases statistics, it becomes
painfully obvious wolf-dogs, Bengal or Savannah cats are not the problem, as
all of the rabies cases (except a goat or two) occur in the wild non-captive
animals, or animals for which rabies vaccine is already approved, such as
domestic dogs, cats and livestock.
So who is behind this horrible discriminatory bill?
www.REXANO.org