Call Your Shot - It Could Save Your Life

Barbara J. Andrews January 2001© TheDogPlace Update January 2011

If you missed Call Your Shot - Part One you might want to backtrack to draw a bead on the target

2011 risks, politics, and PORK of mandated parvo, Lyme, lepto, rabies, and even cancer vaccines that destroy the human and canine immune system, plus update on bio-warfare research lab.

Lyme disease evolved from an "unheard of" disease for which there was an immediate vaccine.  It's almost as if the drug company developed the shot knowing Lyme would become a problem. 

In fact, one pharmaceutical company actually fired that charge at a competitor who released a canine Lyme disease vaccine before there had been a single confirmed case diagnosed in dogs...  One has to wonder where all the new vaccinatable diseases come from? How widespread are they? Do the new viral diseases exist as anything other than a line on a financial graph? Will the efficiency of a new vaccine outweigh its possible side effects? How does one get factual information on the frequency and seriousness of side effects? Unfortunately, there are not enough scientists willing to candidly discuss these issues. One does not bite the hand that feeds....

The December 1988 issue of DVM magazine featured a Vaccine Roundtable discussion in which the many benefits of vaccines were weighed against the risks, both known and suspected.  It featured Dr. Jonas Salk whose biological research resulted in the polio vaccine, plus leading veterinary educators.

Young animals are at higher risk of contracting vaccine-induced disease due to their undeveloped immune systems. Dr. Swango (Auburn University Assoc. Professor of Virology, specializing in canine virus diseases) cites high risk in "Any animal under 4 weeks of age..." and went on to say that "even in 6 to 8 weeks old puppies the distemper vaccine may occasionally induce disease." He stipulated that vaccine disease is more likely in compromised puppies and kittens. Dr. Swango also makes a mind-stopping statement. "There is a difference between vaccination and immunization." i.e. vaccination doesn't guarantee immunity.

Dr. Tizard (Professor and Head of Microbiology and Parasitology, TX A&M) acknowledges "There is a problem of vaccine-associated disease that cannot be avoided."  Dr. Salk reminds us "to be altogether pragmatic when the disease is of far greater risk than the methods that are employed in their control." For example, even taking into account that rabies must be transmitted through a bite, the risk of death from rabies is greater than the possibility of vaccine-induced reactions or disease. Regarding the choice of killed over modified live products, Dr. Salk emphatically states "with the killed virus vaccine we can eliminate the disease altogether, both vaccine-induced and naturally-occurring."

The Canine Immune System

In Part One, we touched on the effect of vaccines on the immune system and the corresponding increase in immune related diseases in the last decade. We accept that vaccines are meant to challenge the immune system. The body defeats the weakened form of the virus and therefore is primed and ready to kill the more virulent bug should it ever try to invade.. Works great. Except when we OVER challenge the immune system. That's when people and dogs become "allergic" and susceptible to a lot of puny bugs that should have been sloughed off.

If we keep pecking away at the body's defense system, year after year, with this shot and that, with a wide assortment of chemicals and toxins, with "medicines" which are proven to confuse and weaken the immune system; sooner or later, that defense will crumble.

Now, about our pets. We humans only get "puppy shots." I don't know one person that gets yearly boosters for polio, whooping cough, measles, etc, etc. Do you? Then why do our dogs need yearly shots? Experts say they don't! The body keeps tabs on what virus it's already defeated and if the immune system is strong, (with but few exceptions such as tetanus) it is able to ward off a subsequent attack from the same virus. Furthermore, if we accept Dr. Salk's words on herd immunization, a healthy dog is constantly accumulating new immunities from vaccinated dogs.

The truth would impact the profit of vaccine manufacturers and vet practices.  I'm sure some vet is already planning a scathing rebuttal. That's good because in order to debate, the good veterinarian will do his or her own research and in so doing, will get by the spoon-fed hype and apply common sense over profit.

Puppy Shots, Booster Shots, Rabies Shots!

Here's the nightmare. We start our puppies out with wormings and big-time challenges to their UNDEVELOPED system and we keep at it and keep at it until they are at least 16 weeks old - or dead from the parvo or corona they shouldn't have caught.  If they break with disease, we're told it was because of that "window" but never are we told that the vaccine weakened and overwhelmed the pup's immature immune system. The lapse between maternal immunity and vaccine conferred immunity may exist - but so does the reality of vaccine-induced disease!

If the puppy survives the first 16 weeks of constant bombardment, we then hit them with a rabies shot.  NOT to protect the dog.  Rabies shots are to protect the human population and okay, compared to human lives, animals are expendable. It doesn't mean that we should close our eyes to the possible side-effects of rabies vaccination, failing to recognize and respond to symptoms should they occur in our beloved dogs.

OK, so about six months after the potent rabies vaccine, we assault puppies again with boosters and probably get them up the nose while we're at it.  By now they're wearing flea collars or are being dipped and dusted, and of course, the juvenile dog is also on heartworm prevention poison. Six months later, another rabies shot; then hopefully your state will let the dog recover for two to four years before blasting him with yet another rabies booster. By the way, who decides that dogs in some states must be "challenged" every year with potent rabies vaccine whereas dogs in other states are immune for up to four years? The state Veterinary association? The Legislature? Who????

Allergies, Thyroid, Neurological, and Orthopedic Disease

It's along about this time that an estimated fifty percent of "cared for" dogs develop immune and/or thyroid problems. Many are simply treated as "allergies" and as such, the dog receives medications specifically designed to SUPPRESS the immune system!! Hard to believe isn't it? Strays escape the onslaught of care most of us heap upon our dogs.... and notably, their immune systems are strong. Of course, those of us who notice that interesting fact are just asking to be blamed for "inbreeding" our dogs and harming their immune systems. Our fault again!

DVM June 1991 carried an interesting article by Priscilla Stockner, DVM. She details case histories of immune-mediated orthopedic disease which occurred following modified-live vaccine administration in Great Danes. The vaccine reactions included inability to rise, pain, joint stiffness, high temps, and dramatic thyroid malfunctions.

Other case histories mention aggression as a not uncommon reaction. Now if Dr. Blank vaccinates Mrs. Smith's lap dog and then Poopsie gets "sick" and then Poopsie gets "nasty" and "unpredictable, he's likely to think the problem is in Mrs. Smith's mind. If the family dog attacks a child, the horror of the incident overrides the likelihood of exploring a connection to recent booster shots. I'm not suggesting that we write bad temperament off to "shots." On the other hand, when we encounter sudden and inexplicable behavioral changes, the first person we should turn to is a well informed veterinarian.

Trainers and behavioral counselors please take note of this description of severe reactions to canine distemper virus. JAVMA vol 196, No. 11, June 1, 1990 pg 1852 reports "Development of nervous system lesions was reflected by observation of signs of aggression, which eventually progressed to in-coordination, prostration, convulsions, and death." The signs may be less pronounced, (sub-clinical from an owner's perspective) but still dangerous if one is dealing with a large breed.

There have been similar documented cases of post-vaccination rabies in dogs, cats, and people. Symptoms usually begin with lameness, limb paralysis, and may include nervousness, phobias, and even radical aggression. Dr. Jean Dodds, DVM (prominent researcher, NY State Dept. Of Health, widely published) reports in a paper on Reactions to Vaccines And Drugs, Part I "Parallel bone marrow failure, immunosuppression, and immune-mediated hematologic disease have been recognized since the late 1970's in dogs exposed to canine parvo virus or recently vaccinated with modified live parvo virus and other vaccines." Dr. Dodds cites fever, stiffness, sore joints and abdominal tenderness, and eventual collapse among symptoms that may appear 1-3 days or 10-21 days after vaccination.

Lyme Disease & Cervical Cancer Vaccine - Updates

Swallowing such heavy doses of uncomfortable isn't easy but like bad tasting medicine, it can be good for you, your family, and your dog.  Time does not permit me to respond to you on an individual basis but as when I wrote this column in 1993, I am interested in short, graphic experiences of vaccine reactions or your quotable comments regarding the increase in immune problems over the last decade. Just as I did with data on reproductive problems associated with feline distemper/early canine parvo vaccine in The Dog Newspaper back in the 80s, we will report YOUR findings to the Fancy.

Thinking back, it was reader input that brought out an emerging truth about the vaccine racket.  Now there is internet and the people are more empowered.  Please indicate whether your name can be used in giving credit or quotes for future columns. Click to email your vaccine-related report.

By the way, shall we talk about Clinton's REQUIRED vaccination of children and the possibility that newborns will be vaccinated before leaving the hospital? There is speculation that injection will include a micro-chip.  Are our dogs canaries of the twentieth century in more ways than one? You tell me.....

UPDATE: Remember when in Feb. 2007, Texas governor Rick Perry signed an executive order requiring all little girls entering sixth grade to receive Guardasil, a new cervical cancer vaccine?  It was said to prevent a debatably common sexually transmitted virus that could cause cervical cancer!  According to the Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), which is managed by the FDA and the CDC, 23 million doses of Gardasil were distributed between 2006 and 2008, and 12,424 reports had been filed. Most were not serious but about 6% were, including blood clots and Guillain-Barré syndrome, a disorder that can progress to paralysis. There were also 32 reported deaths.  Well I have friends bred and born in Texas and they ain't stupid :)  It so angered the very people who had made Perry the longest running governor in the U.S. that they accused him and the school board of taking pork (in a cattle state) from a vaccine manufacturer.

Perry rescinded the law in a record 90 days!  It made a little news but in 2010, Rick Perry is still governor and still looking out for Texans.

Now there's Lyme news.  Well, it isn't new but under the Freedom Of Information Act, it has gone public on the internet.  With Cass Sunstein seeking to control the web, the Director of FCC fighting it, things are a little shaky so you might want to click on over to Plum Island Bio-Warfare Research Facility Moving To Mainland to continue (Lyme disease) and Foot and Mouth experiments in the cattle belt...

 See Call Your Shot - Part One

http://www.thedogplace.org/Vaccines/0101-Call-Shot-2_Andrews.asp 10122

reprint permission SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE September 1993

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