Molly's Bill AB 258 (Rabies Medical Exemption) signed into law

This news was released today by the Rabies Chal­lenge Fund.

Cal­i­for­nia Rabies Med­ical Exemp­tion AB 258 Signed into Law

On Fri­day, Octo­ber 7, 2011, California’s Gov­er­nor signed a rabies med­ical exemp­tion into law, Molly’s Bill (AB 258), http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11–12/bill/asm/ab_0251-0300/ab_258_bill_20111007_chaptered.html. Cal­i­for­nia is the 14th state to do so.

For our read­ers not famil­iar with this issue, here is a syn­op­sis of the bill from the State Humane Asso­ci­a­tion of Cal­i­for­nia website.

Allows exemp­tion from rabies vac­ci­na­tion if a licensed vet­eri­nar­ian deter­mines that the vac­ci­na­tion would endan­ger the dog’s life due to dis­ease or other con­sid­er­a­tions. Owner must exe­cute state­ment affirm­ing that the owner under­stands the con­se­quences and accepts all lia­bil­ity. At the dis­cre­tion of the local health offi­cer, the dog may be con­fined to the owner’s premises and, when off premises, shall be on a leash 6 feet or less and under the direct phys­i­cal con­trol of an adult. Also, dog shall not have con­tact with a dog/cat that is not cur­rently vac­ci­nated against rabies.”

For a more in-depth look into why states are pass­ing this change in pet vac­ci­na­tion laws, visit Aimee’s Rabies Exemp­tion Law blog. This blog explores many of the top­ics and issues asso­ci­ated with pet vac­ci­na­tions, and is a good source for cur­rent news about them.