Rabies is alive and well in California, why on Earth wouldn’t you vaccinate?
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/cid/dcdc/pages/reportedanimalrabies.aspx
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Right, I guess the most straightforward answer is because it’s out there moving around the small mammal population. A lot of New England is heavily forested, so foxes, raccoons, etc are always around our horses. Most horse show venues/public arenas in my area make this a requirement, presumably because of its existence in the environment, its zoonotic properties, and ability to be transmitted via saliva. And it is 100% fatal, so I can’t imagine taking a chance on something so easily preventable. Even the most vaccine-avoidant owners in my area seem to make sure their horses at least get rabies (our “core” vaccines in New England are: Rabies, Tetanus, West Nile, EEE/WEE).
I know there is some discussion about whether horses need it annually or on a schedule more similar to dogs & cats (interesting research from UC Davis here).
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I totally agree with you, but I’m not at all surprised they don’t in CA with these numbers. 23 cases in terrestrial animals across the entire state in 2023. I don’t know why bat cases don’t trigger the same concern.
Just to compare, in 2022, 36 non bat animals tested positive for rabies in New York City alone. In 2023, there were 239 non bat rabid animals in New York State. 10x CA, and NY is like…a third the size??
Again, I don’t disagree–the rabies vaccine is cheap and easy and most tolerate it fine and rabies is not only a sure death sentence but transmittable to people. Scary stuff.
But it’s also easy to see how it’s more top of mind in some areas over others.
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They actually mention that directly in the UC Davis article, but attribute it to the fact that the wide adoption of Rabies vaccines has been so effective at halting it. Why rock the boat on an approach so effective? (I know that’s not what you’re suggesting…it’s just that people growing complacent is how we end up with preventable diseases rebounding)
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I’m in WA state where bats are the main/only reservoir. A few years ago my neighbor’s cat brought a dead bat into their house. Thankfully, the neighbor had the foresight to send the bat to the county for testing. The bat tested positive. The cat had never been vaccinated for rabies and had to be euthanized.
If I find a dead bat in my barn and it tests positive I don’t want to euthanize my horse when a simple vaccine could prevent that
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I don’t think there’s ever been wide adoption of rabies vaccination in equines in California. Their low numbers are due to their geography and animal population and whatever else. Some areas just naturally have less of a rabies reservoir.
We were like that in Colorado, and it started to shift in the…late 90s, maybe? Early 2000s? No one vaccinated their horses for rabies (or very few, I didn’t know anyone who did!) but then the rabies reservoir started to expand and risk went up. CSU changed their recommendations, and people started vaccinating. I’m sure a lot still don’t, but a lot do, that didn’t before.
Again, not at all saying that rabies should just be ignored in areas where it’s less prevalent. But–especially coming from a state where the state vet hospital wasn’t recommending rabies vaccination as recently as, idk, 20-30 years ago?–I can see why people don’t vaccinate in some areas. I’m not excusing it, and it’s not what I would do, but I can understand it
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I’d hope that anyone who is aware of the availability of Rabies vaccine would have their horses vaccinated. Years ago, I had to ask the vet to administer it along with the regular vaccinations, so even some vets were slow to include it.
By now I’d expect people be familiar with it. I believe it requires a vet to procure the vaccine, but they should be administering the horse’s vaccines anyway, so availability shouldn’t be an issue.
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I follow my veterinarian’s recommendations on vaccines which includes rabies. When my horses were boarded in Southern California, in stalls, the veterinarians I used did not think it was important and did not recommend it. Their rationale was that the odds of a horse being bitten in that very urban environment were pretty much zero.
Where I am now, in rural northern California, with my horses out, we do it, though not every year. Again, following my veterinarian’s recommendations.
It’s a little odd to me to need a rabies vaccine for shows unless there’s a full complement of required vaccines. It’s just so rare in horses and the people at risk are the people who handle the horse. EHV-1 seems to be our biggest risk at shows right now, plus the ever present rhino/flu.
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Well, we all kind of had to know horses are administered the rabies vaccine - didn’t we have a big thread just a month or two ago about giving vaccines ourselves, versus having the vet do it? Many times on that thread rabies was mentioned because it must be administered by a vet to my knowledge…
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It really depends on the state. I could purchase and administer rabies in Colorado. If there was a concern that my horse was rabid, it wouldn’t “count” and the horse was treated as if unvaccinated.
But overall having owners vaccinate their own stock is preferred to not having the animal vaccinated at all.
Here in CT I can’t purchase it. So obvs can’t administer. Unless the vet gives it, no vaccine happens.
Plusses and minuses both ways.
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The vet has to administer it here in CA as well.
I agree there’s not a reason to not give it. As I said to a client last week - they get rabies, they die. Pretty straightforward reason to vaccinate for it. 🤷
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And anyone who came into contact with the rabid animal goes for rabies shots, which I have been told by someone who had them, are rather painful.
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Am I remembering right that you board horses? Have you considered making it a requirement if so? If you’re doing the bulk of care & handling your own risk is higher than the owners.
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And expensive.
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Not in Canada. 
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I find it shocking that CA hasn’t adopted coggins as a requirement for shows. I assumed it was a USEF rule, but I guess it is show by show. Weird USEF has a rule about being vaccinated for flu/rhino and not negative coggins.
I always present my health papers at the show office, and I am irked when they don’t look at them. I know if they are ignoring me, they aren’t collecting them from others. And that puts everyone at risk. I don’t know what the big deal is to people about getting the required health forms completed. It’s supposed to be for the safety of our animals. My vets have complained to me about the “emergency coggins” they have had to provide for top level riders who are shipping internationally. You would think they’d be on top of that stuff.
Do they do coggins testing for import from Europe? I’ve not imported one myself.
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I do have horses in training at my two facilities, yes. I do not offer straight boarding.
I have not considered it. One of the pillars of my program is that care and management is decided on by the whole team (owner, vet, and myself). There are some things I require (EHV vaccine for instance), but I really try to educate people and then the team makes a decision on what’s best for the horse. The client I mentioned above had never vaccinated for rabies and she was happy to do so after I gave my justification. I try not to have a lot of hard and fast rules because every horse and every client are individuals. If the situation in my area changed and there were more rabies cases, I would re visit my policy.
I’m confused by these posts, but I’m glad to hear that rabies vaccines are at least being discussed and sometimes utilized. 
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Requiring it and believing it’s a good idea are different things. It’s not my place to take over decisions that horse owners and their vets make about their horses. I can educate them and make recommendations, and in RARE circumstances not allow them to have horses at my facility, but as I said I try not to make hard and fast rules as each horse is an individual.
I mean, it’s actually worse than that, because if they are suspected of having rabies, they die. You can’t diagnose it in a live animal, so if exposure is suspected, there’s a very long quarantine best case scenario, and people are pretty quick to go to euthanasia if the horse shows any signs.
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