Pet Vaccines. Recently, according to a published Medical Science news report, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB), announced plans to allow pet vaccine manufacturing firms to release new batches of vaccinations and market them to practicing veterinarians and pet owners without pre-screening them for safety or efficacy.
Veterinary Biologics is just another word for pet vaccines or annual pet shots, which until now have been and were required to be tested for safety and efficacy before being sold.
This new proposal would apply to both live and inactivated [or killed] vaccines and include everything from Distemper and Parvo-Virus to Feline Leukemia and Rabies, for dogs and cats.
Instead of safety testing each batch of vaccine prior to release, the USDA will determined whether or not to screen particular batches based on the manufacturers submission of a report assessing the past safety performance of the vaccine in question.
The company has merely to submit a safety test exemption request along with a report stating that their vaccines safety history has been within acceptable limits for the prior year.
Apparently, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also referred to as PETA have strongly encouraged this initiative in the US as well as the UK.
Since this recommendation, has been made public, PETA has worked endlessly to ensure the elimination of all remaining barriers to this proposal including those for which scientific support has not been provided.
Whether or not the USDA will take this proposal and turn it into law is not known at this time.
As a practicing veterinarian and pet lover, this author has to wonder who really benefits from administering vaccines to helpless dogs and cats that have no guarantee as to safety or efficacy.
This proposal may sound shocking to pet owners and veterinarians who have experienced dogs and cats suffering from Fanconi Syndrome, Kidney Failure and death after eating for example, chicken jerky treats and/or Salmonella tainted pet food; the rate of which has been explosive to say the least.
