Re: coggins papers

["C.M.Newell" <reshan@deyr.ultranet.com>]

>... SO if you leave
>your farm to ride elsewhere for whatever reason you have to have that paper
>on you.  NEVER had to before and I have been in TX since 82.  Sometimes I
>wonder if it isn't to make money for the vets and the labs to make up for
>those of us who do a lot of our own vetting, such as the annual
>immunizations.  WE even used to get rabies shots for dogs here, but not
>more.  If I drive 70 miles to LA, I can get it. DOES this pass the common
>sense test or the economics test?  Mary Ann, Tx
>
>
	I think your paranoia is showing. You'd be surprised how little political
clout DVMs have. And I don't know anyone who gets rich off Coggins tests.
	As for the availability of rabies vaccine to the public, that is a
decision which gets made by state health departments, and it has nothing to
do with the financial health of the veterinary profession. It is purely to
insure that rabies vaccination is done by someone who knows what they're
doing, and is threfore effective. I realize one doens't have to be a rocket
scientist to give an IM injection, but after you've had someone call you
and inquire, "I got distemper shots for my dog, and I gave him the liquid
part, but how do I get the powder out of the other bottle?", or the *real*
winner who was giving intranasal kennel cough vaccine with a *needle* in
the dog's nose (and who blamed the vaccine company for the severe local
reactions), you begin to understand the health department's position. Would
you care to take the chance that the dog that bit you was vaccinated
properly by someone like that?
			--CMNewell, DVM