I know that when I was in the UK I had to buy dog licences for all my dogs - from the Post Office IIRC - and was able to buy a breeder's licence once I got my KC registered affix, but have no idea whether it is still necessary in the UK - or anywhere - for a dog to have a licence. Here in Israel the yearly rabies shot, which is registered under the owner's ID number with the Ministry of Agriculture, is counted as a dog licence. And only Local Authority vets are officially allowed to give the rabies shot. Which means Ram cannot give them, only Dr Vadim from the LA. And too many people do not bother. The rabies shot lasts for three years but the laws according to the Min of Agriculture here is that dogs must have yearly shots in order to be licenced. The shots have never bothered Pereg or caused her to have a seizure - yet - but then neither do her yearly booster shots as she has no known trigger, but I would far rather she be "legal" and take the risk of a reaction than not have her given the shot. Rabies is endemic here and although there might be very few cases, a stray dog that is picked up with no microchip [also registered under the owner's ID number] and showing no record of having had a rabies shot - well if the owner wants to collect them they have a hefty fine to pay, so most are, distressingly, pts. And if - and that is a real big IF - Pereg ever nipped someone and she did not have a current licence, ie rabies shot - it does not bear thinking about. So - Vadim has been away but is now back and says he will call in on Tuesday to give Pereg her rabies shot. At least she has never done what Little One used to do, which was piddle on his shoe while he bent down to give her the shot! Having known Vadim since I first had Little One, his "I will come on Tuesday" means "I will turn up when I turn up". But he always does - eventually. And in the meantime after a not so good but not so bad seizure a couple of days ago, Pereg is doing fine B"H
I did not mean to rant Azz - and yes, the she came out of the last seizure easier than normally although it took her a very long time, so we are not over-bothered about that one, but this rabies shot that worries me. It is the equivalent of a dog licence and has to be done yearly even though it is acknowledged that the rabies shot lasts for three years. My concern is, of course, Pereg. I know that she is covered for rabies but without a yearly registered shot she is not licenced. Whatever my vet says, whatever Dr Vadim says, if there is a rabies concern in the area and it is put under quarantine, she HAS to have a current rabies shot. I know she is OK for another couple of years. Ram knows she is OK for another couple of years, Vadim knows she is OK for another couple of years, but without that yearly shot, registered under my ID number and her microchip number with the Ministry of Agriculture, she is not legally covered. And I want her legally covered and registered/licenced.
I am in the US. Every dog and cat must get a vet administered rabies shot and a county dog tag. The shot is very cheap, anywhere from 3.00 to 7.00, but you also have to pay for the office visit. The first is a one year shot and the rest are for 3 years. As for the tags, that's yearly. The price is about 25.00 for a dog that is sterilized and 77.00 if not. The prices vary as each county sets their own price. No break for being poor or for a service dog. I feel the registration part is a rip off. Just a way to make money. I never tag my dogs or have my vet give a rabies shot. I do give my dogs and most of the neighborhood dogs their rabies shot. I get away with it because it is not illegal in the state of Florida to administer you own shots and state laws take presidence over county laws the same as federal law takes presidence over state. As for the county tags...If you get caught all you have to do is pay a small fine and buy the tag. BTW...I buy the exact vaccines as the vet. For rabies it costs 1.97 for a 25 shot vial. .25 to .50 for the syringe. a box of 100 is about 10.00 and I think a package of 25 tags is about 3.00. With 7 dogs and being on a fixed disability income there is no way I could afford it just for my own babies much less for all the others. Vaccines are very important especially living in the woods like I do and I would rather risk the small fine one time than to have the babies do without.
Vadim still has not turned up but he will - eventually! I have just checked her card and the rabies shot was actually only due yesterday - some years he turns up early, some years late. He used to give tags each year but that was stopped some time before I adopted Pereg, so the only thing needed to prove she has had the shot is his automatic notification to the Min of Agriculture with her chip number and my ID number. Debra, Vadim does not charge me for either coming here or for the shot. He comes here when he visits the Moshav as he is responsible for animals/poultry for meat, milk, eggs etc. He is also responsible for checking any imported meat [our beef comes from Argentina, chilled]. He is always in a rush when he turns up - has the syringe ready, bends down, gives the shot, tells me to fill the date in on her card, and rushes away! I am not sure why I thought her shot was due earlier - probably because there has to be four weeks in between her yearly boosters and the rabies shot and she had her boosters in May, but looking at her card it seems that he has been turning up a bit later each year - and looking at Little One's cards he used to turn up sometimes early for her - she had only recently had another new card started when she died.
You are so lucky not to be charged. My last vet visit for Rita was 34.95 plus the cost of her three medications to a total of 74.00 and I feel I got away cheap that time. I keep a credit card only for vet bills so they never have to do without medical care.
@manydogz - assuming you mean US$ - Ram, my vet, does not charge for a consultation, just for treatment, which is A Good Thing as Pereg's Phenobarbitone [phenobarbital] costs around $36.50/month. Plus she needs Milk Thistle and SAMe to help support her liver [Phenobarbitone is processed through the liver and does nasties to it], plus Taurine to help her CNS etc etc etc and those probably come to the same, if not more, each month. Plus the vitamins... and the other supplements... it is, and will be, never ending, but we - you, I, and others with dogs with chronic problems - have no choice, do we? We do the best we can for our beloved furbabies. So yes, Vadim not charging me for her rabies shot does help! [incidentally, I am still praying for little Rita]
@Malka .....I think it's the prayers as much as the meds that keeps her going, so please keep at it. She's a wonderful little girl with a great will to live. She just needs a bit of help both medically and spiritually to get her through. My vet couldn't believe that through it all she gained almost a pound and her heart murmur dropped from a five to a four and that was before he put her on the meds. Must have been God's work. No other explanation for it.
I really do pray for little Rita and for Carole's Tweed - and for those who need it as and when. Pereg and I have a routine when we go to bed, that seems to comfort and settle her, and possibly helps me sleep. She has her pats, cuddles, ear twiddles, tummy rubs, each one with [yeah, I know this sounds silly] their own little saying, and then she hops over me and flonks down by my feet. I then say - out loud - my proper night prayers [in Hebrew] - and then in English I have my little chat with HaShem [G-d] in which I ask Him to please look after little Rita and Tweed etc. It is sort of like a one-way chat with HaShem which may not be classed as praying by some people, but if it is not then what are prayers? But I am sure that He hears me so when someone asks for prayers I will pray for them in my way. I might sound like an idiot believing in mumbo jumbo by having said this, but this is my religion and my way of praying. And I really do believe that it helps.
Ah Malka, I'm really touched. Thank you from Tweed, and myself. As an ex Buddhist atheist I can't really pray, but I try to send positive thoughts to those I think need them - I think it is a similar thing really.
@CaroleC - I am not even sure whether people would consider my little chats with HaShem as prayers, but I know that they are and I am sure that HaShem hears me. But then that is just me. Oh, and going back to my OP I telephoned Vadim again and again he promised to come here on Tuesday to give Pereg her rabies shot! Or he will turn up or he will not, but he will - eventually! I cannot believe I have known him for so long, and I will never forget when the dog catchers were unable to catch two litter mates that had made their home under the house next door to the bungalow I rented on the Moshav before I moved to this one. They had tried everything - leaving delish smelling food outside the that house, which was on stilts at the back leaving a big crawl space - but in the end had to call in Vadim who is licenced to use tranquilizer guns. Seeing him crouching down to fire at these dogs [who had been causing havoc for weeks] - such care. Someone else had to open the box where the tranquilizer shots were, to give him one to put in his special rifle - such rules but excellent for safety - was sort of strange. Once he had hit both dogs, two of the dog catchers crawled in to bring them out, and Vadim checked them over carefully before putting them in the van and then giving them a shot to bring them out of the zonked state. I have no idea what happened to them after that though. But he was just so careful aiming at them, and then so gentle when examining them after they were brought out. I sort of half fell in love with him then!
@Malka @CaroleC It does not matter if you pray to HaShem or send positive thoughts. I believe that no matter who you pray to or what religion you are they all go to the same place. I, myself, am Jewish. My prayers are different from someone who is, say, Catholic or Buddist, but my prayers are not better of worse than theirs. Just different. I pray every night for my Rita, and Pereg, and Tweed. I then will say a sort of general prayer for all the injured and sick animals and a special one for the people who care for them. I'm sure that sounds weird to a lot of people, but I don't care. I've been accused of being a lot worse things than merely weird or strange. I like myself just the way I am and if someone doesn't like it all they have to do is go the other way. I believe in the power of prayer and in the power of positive thinking.
@manydogz - Debra - your prayers sound a bit like mine - I mean you talk to HaShem as I do although I do not know if you talk out loud as I do. And no doubt if anyone could actually hear me they would think I was not just weird but totally bonkers. It is not just an automatic habit - although I suppose saying the Shema is automatic and at 72 years old it probably is. But when I pray for Rita and Tweed [or which ever dog needs prayers] if is to ask HaShem to look after them. With Pereg, I always thank HaShem for each seizure-free day and ask that please do not let her have another seizure during the night. I always have these one-way chats - but then that is just the way I am.
@Malka yes, I pray out loud and I always end with the Shema. I don't look on my chats with HaShem as one way conversations. I think that with so many people talking to Him at same time that He has all He can do to keep the conversations straight much less answer me directly. I know He hears me and I'm happy with that.
This is to explain to people who are not Jewish, about the Shema that Debra and I have mentioned. http://www.jewfaq.org/prayer/shema.htm The transliteration is slightly different from the way I say it, as it is an American website [a brilliant one and very easy for non-Jews to understand] and in the US the Ashkenazi pronunciation is used whereas in Israel, and now many other Countries, we use the Sepharadi pronunciation, but the English translation is basically the same. It is the last prayer said at night, and the first [after hand washing and another prayer] upon waking. The last prayer a person who knows he/she is dying but is still able to speak, will try to say. And the first prayer their next of kin say upon hearing of their death. The last words of Daniel Pearl z"l who was a journalist with joint American and Israeli citizenship, who was kidnapped by Pakistani militants before his throat was cut and he was subsequently beheaded by Al-Qaeda in February 2002, were the first few words of the Shema. Even the majority of non-religious Jews know the Shema, whether they say it or not, and whether they know how to say it in Hebrew or just in English. Ze mah yesh. That is how it is.
