BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HEALTH
COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
Senator Elaine K. Alquist, Chair
BILL NO: AB 2689
A
AUTHOR: Smyth
B
AMENDED: April 22, 2010
HEARING DATE: June 9, 2010
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CONSULTANT:
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Orr/cjt
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SUBJECT
Rabies vaccinations
SUMMARY
Authorizes cities and counties to specify the means by
which a dog owner is required to provide proof of his or
her dog's rabies vaccination, including but not limited to
electronic transmission or facsimile.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing federal regulations:
Require a valid rabies vaccination for dogs 12 weeks of age
and older that are imported to the United States from
countries where canine rabies is present, with certain
exceptions.
Existing state law:
Requires every dog owner, after the dog attains the age of
four months, to obtain a license for the dog no less than
once every two years, and to vaccinate the dog against
rabies not more often than once per year.
Requires the governing body of each city, county, or city
Continued---
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and county to maintain or provide for the maintenance of a
pound system and a rabies control program. Establishes
that fees for dog licensure be fixed by the city, county,
or city and county. Authorizes the governing body to
impound any dogs found to be in violation of these
provisions and any additional provisions the governing body
prescribes. Declares the responsibility of the governing
body to provide or arrange for the provision of dog
vaccination clinics.
Authorizes the Department of Public Health (DPH) to
investigate reported cases of rabies in any county or city,
and declare a quarantine against designated animals if the
department finds that rabies exists. The department may
issue regulations as a substitute for a quarantine order,
when appropriate.
Establishes that any person who willfully conceals
information about the location or ownership of an animal
subject to rabies that has exposed a person to rabies with
the intent to prevent the quarantine or isolation of that
animal by the local health officer is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
Defines "rabies area" to mean any area within a region
where the existence of rabies constitutes a public health
hazard.
Existing regulations
Require that dogs be revaccinated one year after their
primary immunization. Defines primary immunization as the
initial inoculation of an approved canine rabies vaccine
administered to young dogs between the ages of four and
twelve months. Dogs receiving a vaccination after the
primary immunization, and any dog receiving its initial
vaccination at over twelve months of age are required to be
revaccinated at least once every three years.
Require that dogs be licensed no later than 60 days after
the expiration of the previously issued license. Prohibits
a dog license from being issued for a period beyond the
dog's revaccination due date, with specified exceptions.
Local authorities may require revaccination prior to
issuance of a license provided that revaccination does not
occur prior to specified times.
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2689 (Smyth) Page
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Establish various requirements for vaccination
certificates, including a requirement that certificates
bear the signature of the veterinarian administering the
vaccine and a requirement that the certificate be stamped,
printed or typed with the specified identifying information
of the veterinarian. Dog vaccination clinics conducted in
accordance with statutes may use vaccination certificates
approved by the public health officer, as long as the
clinic is identified on the certificate and specified
records are maintained.
Establish that the local health officer is to be notified
when a person is bitten by an animal of a species subject
to rabies within a rabies area. Establishes standards for
the isolation and strict confinement of any rabid animal or
animal that is suspected to be rabid. Allows the local
health officer discretion to isolate any animal which bites
or otherwise exposes a person to rabies for a specified
length of time.
This bill:
Authorizes the responsible city, county, or city and county
to specify the means by which the dog owner is required to
provide proof of his or her dog's rabies vaccination,
including but not limited to electronic transmission or
facsimile.
FISCAL IMPACT
This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
This bill seeks to remove the requirement that rabies
certificates include an original signature by the
inoculating veterinarian in order to be valid, and instead
allows licensing agencies to establish methods of verifying
rabies vaccinations using modern communication and
technology, including via email and facsimile. The
verification process would need to be agreed upon through
collaboration with public health and state veterinary
agencies.
The sponsor of this bill, the City of Los Angeles, claims
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that local health officials cannot force nor ensure that
veterinarians sign rabies forms for all owners who have
their dogs vaccinated, and many owners do not know that
they must obtain the veterinarian's signature for the
certificate to be considered valid. In addition, the
documents that the owners submit to their governing body to
verify their dog's rabies status can take a variety of
forms (anything from a form to a receipt) and can be
readily falsified with modern printers and computers.
Because owners submit information separately from the
veterinarians, and the owners' information is often
incomplete due to the missing veterinarian signature, the
sponsor claims that limited available resources are focused
on simply matching up submitted forms from owners with
reported records from veterinarians. The sponsor believes
that resources could be better spent on processing more
certificates and auditing forms to ensure validity of the
information instead.
The sponsor estimates that there are over 300,000 dogs in
the City of Los Angeles. The sponsor also notes an
increasing number of imported dogs, and the potential for
those dogs to be carriers of the rabies virus. While the
city has created an online application for licensing,
they've found that the process is not helpful to dog owners
because if the rabies certificate is expired, the owners
can only obtain a new license or renew an existing license
by mailing in a separate written form. The sponsor believes
that by removing the additional paperwork requirements for
owners, more owners would complete the licensing process.
By focusing limited resources on verification instead of
paperwork, they believe this bill will increase licensing
compliance and licensing revenue, and improve rabies
compliance by dog owners.
Rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that affects the central nervous
system and causes acute inflammation of the brain. Rabies
is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is
not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms. In
California, most cases of rabies occur in skunks and bats,
however, any mammal can contract rabies. Domestic animals
account for three percent of animal rabies, and the rest
occurs in a variety of wild animals. Rabies can be
prevented by vaccination.
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Human rabies is rare in the United States. The virus is
generally passed to humans via the bite of a rabid animal.
The majority of human cases in the U.S. are caused by rabid
bats. Although uncommon, human rabies retains its public
health significance because of the lethality of human
infections.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) received
reports of 1,747 animal rabies cases from 2001 through
2008. During that time, reported animal cases decreased in
California by 44.5 percent. Among animal rabies cases, the
most frequently reported species were bats (73.0 percent),
skunks (23.5 percent), foxes (2.3 percent), and cats (0.6
percent). According to the "Epidemiologic Summary of Animal
and Human Rabies in California, 2001 - 2008, Key Findings
and Public Health Messages" the department found that
appropriate domestic and wild animal management, animal
vaccination programs, public health and medical management
of persons exposed to potentially rabid animals, public
education about animal risk reduction strategies, and
avoiding wild animal contact apparently provide the best
opportunities for reducing rabies in humans and animals.
The impact of imported pets on public health
While canine rabies is well-controlled in the United
States, among other parts of the world, rabies dog bites
cause over 50,000 deaths a year. Although the United States
has successfully eliminated canine rabies variants from
domestic circulation, introduction of foreign canine rabies
virus variants via imported dogs threatens this status.
Rabies is of particular concern in imported dogs because of
its long incubation period; on average, clinical disease
develops four to eight weeks after infection. Because of
this, dogs may be admitted to the country on the basis of
apparent good health, but could be incubating the virus and
develop disease after entry.
Although there are no accurate surveillance data on the
number of dogs imported each year, it is estimated that
over 287,000 dogs were imported into the U.S. during 2006.
Reports of unvaccinated dogs being imported into California
allegedly increased by over 500 percent during the period
2001 to 2006. Some of these increases may be explained by
the apparent recent expansion in a high-volume
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international commercial puppy trade. Breeders overseas and
across borders ship puppies to the United States for sale
through commercial pet stores, flea markets, and internet
trading sites. Consumer demand for puppies under four
months of age results in some animals being sold before the
end of the required vaccination confinement period.
Federal regulations currently require proof of valid rabies
vaccination for imported dogs, but allow the importation of
some unvaccinated dogs, including dogs less than three
months of age, provided certain requirements for
confinement are met until the dog is vaccinated. The
regulation does not require a health screen for these dogs
prior to arrival in the U.S., nor does it require treatment
for ticks or evaluation for specific zoonosis of concern.
Importers are expected to appropriately confine and
vaccinate imported dogs that lack valid rabies vaccination.
Enforcement of this regulation is problematic because
there is no federal requirement, mechanism, or capacity for
documenting compliance.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have
stated that zoonotic diseases -those that transfer from
animals to humans- account for three-quarters of all
emerging infectious threats. Five of the six diseases the
agency regards as top threats to national security are
zoonotic.
Rabies control in California
The primary components of the California Rabies Control
Program include companion animal immunization and
licensing; stray animal control; animal bite reporting,
investigation, and animal isolation; and public education.
The program works to control stray domestic animals and
follow up on potential human exposures. The program also
keeps track of animal rabies throughout the state. Existing
statutes require vaccination and licensing of all dogs, but
because cats are the most frequently reported rabid
domestic animal in the U.S., vaccination of all cats is
also strongly advised. There are vaccines for other
domestic animals as well.
The California Health and Safety Code mandates that the
governing body of each city, county, or city and county
maintain or provide a rabies control shelter system and a
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local rabies control program. Rabies control programs must
be implemented to include an animal shelter system, animal
bite reporting and investigations, stray animal control,
animal rabies case investigation, quarantine of biting dogs
and cats, quarantine of domestic animals potentially
exposed to rabies, and other activities for the purpose of
carrying out and enforcing the provisions of the California
Rabies Control Program. The county and/or city shall also
provide or arrange for canine rabies vaccination clinics.
All counties within the state of California are declared
"rabies areas" due to the ongoing cycles of rabies in
California's wildlife, and the resulting threat of exposure
to domestic animals, livestock and humans.
Related bills
AB 2000 (Hagman) exempts from vaccination requirements the
owner of a dog, that a licensed veterinarian has determined
has a compromised immune system or pre-existing condition,
which renders the vaccine dangerous to the animal's health.
Pending in the Senate Health Committee.
AB 2411 (Jones) defines "pet insurance" as a separate line
of insurance, and establishes new regulatory requirements
for the sale of pet insurance products. Pending in the
Senate.
Prior legislation
AB 1634 (Levine) of 2007 would have enacted the California
Responsible Pet Ownership Act and provided that a person
who owns a dog or cat that is not licensed (or is
improperly licensed) and that has not been spayed or
neutered may be cited and, if cited, must pay civil
penalties. It also increases existing fines for nonspayed
or unneutered dogs and cats. Requires microchipping of the
animal for a second occurrence for which the owner will
have to pay the cost of the microchip procedure, as
specified. Failed passage on the Senate Floor.
AB 647 (Koretz) of 2005 would have removed domestic ferrets
from the list of wild animals that are unlawful to import,
transport, possess, or release into this state
if the owner of the ferret produced and maintained
documentation that the ferret has been vaccinated against
rabies and that the ferret, if over the age of six months,
is spayed or neutered. The bill specified that any ferret
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that is sold or offered for sale is required to be spayed
or neutered before the sale, and permitted local animal
control agencies to enforce these provisions. Held in the
Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 861 (Speier) Chapter 668, Statutes of 2005, authorizes
local governments to enact dog breed-specific ordinances
pertaining only to mandatory spay or neuter programs and
breeding requirements, provided that no specific dog breed,
or mixed dog breed, shall be declared potentially dangerous
or vicious under those ordinances. This bill requires those
jurisdictions that do implement such programs to provide
quarterly statistical reports relating to dog bites to the
State Public Health Veterinarian, as specified.
Arguments in support
The sponsor of the bill, the City of Los Angeles, claims
this bill is a technical measure to modernize state
statutes and bring the dog licensing process into the 21st
century. By making on-line dog licensing feasible, the city
believes more dogs will be licensed. The city also believes
that by replacing hand-processing with the efficiency of
modern technology, license issuers will realize much-needed
cost savings. They claim that this bill would more than
double their productivity, and could result in an increase
of 40,000 additional licenses being processed annually.
The city states that most jurisdictions are lucky if they
are able to license 20 to 40 percent of the dogs who live
in their jurisdictions. The city claims that streamlining
procedures through online licensing will increase those
numbers, which they believe will ensure more vaccinations
and also enable more lost dogs to be reunited with their
families, which should reduce the cost of animal
sheltering.
PRIOR ACTIONS
Assembly Local Government 9-0
Assembly Floor 74-0
COMMENTS
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1. Is this bill necessary? Existing regulations do not
expressly exclude electronic transmission of information,
and seem to provide DPH with the authority to allow this
already. CA Code of Regulations, Title 17, Section 2606.4
requires that, within officially declared rabies areas,
certificates bear "the signature of the veterinarian
administering the vaccine or a signature authorized by
him?" which could be interpreted to allow for electronic
signatures. The regulation further states that the
certificate be "stamped, printed, or typed" with the name,
address and phone number of the veterinarian for
legibility, which also does not seem to exclude the ability
to type electronically.
2. Impact of bill may be limited. It is not clear that
this bill will result in increased rabies vaccination rates
and/or dog licensing rates; nor is it clear that electronic
processing will lead to an increase in enforcement of the
vaccination requirement by all governing bodies. It is also
not clear if any other cities or counties besides Los
Angeles and a few larger locales like San Diego and Orange
County will have the capacity to process these certificates
electronically.
POSITIONS
Support: City of Los Angeles (sponsor)
Actors and Others for Animals
Animal Issues Movement
Concerned Dog Owners of California
English Shepherd Club
Humane Society of the United States
Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association
League of California Cities
Lost Coast Kennel Club of California
Save Our Dogs
Oppose: None received
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