# Expiring rabies certificate when it's supposedly good for 3 years in our state :(



## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

Louis went to Banfield (the clinic inside Petsmarts) for his first year because they had a good puppy plan for spay/neuter and puppy vaccination costs. They weren't great, and they weren't terrible, but it was my intent to switch after one year and I probably won't go to them if I ever got another puppy. 

Lately I have been looking into minimal vaccinations and I tried to find the state requirement for rabies in MD, which seemed totally obscure. I called up a holistic vet in our area and found out that rabies shots are good for 3 years (I'm assuming they meant in the state of MD). But Louis got his first rabies shot last spring, and the certificate says it expires next week. It hasn't even been a year yet! This is a pain because I had to submit a copy of his certificate to have him registered in our county (by law), and basically he will need another rabies shot for his license renewal this year. Can they do that? Just put an arbitrary (or is it not arbitrary) expiration date on the certificate? I really, really don't want him to have to get another rabies shot unless it's absolutely necessary, but it looks like I'm going to have to. Kinda upset about this :frown: I guess the worst case scenario is he will have to get the shot again when I take him to the new vet Thursday, and hopefully from then on he will only need it every 3 years...I'll have to wait and see.

Anyone used Banfield before or had something similar at other clinics?


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## Paws&Tails (Sep 3, 2010)

That's how it is here too. You have to register all your animals and pay a fee every year to get it done and get the tags. You can't renew it unless they have a yearly rabies shot. Which sucks. They won't accept 3 year rabies vaccines.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

They give puppies a 1 yr vaccination and then they give whatever your state requires after that.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Sometimes you have to ask for 3 year and I think most places require a one year first then then a 3 year after that. I STRONGLY suspect that the one year and 3 year are the same vaccine in the same amount just labeled differently. I asked my vet about that and he just smiled and walked away. Wouldn't say anything cause he charges more for the 3 year. :smile:


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## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

That sux that they have different laws in every state. You should not be forced into getting the tabbies shot every year. Ridiculous! The alternative is to not license;0)


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## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

RawFedDogs said:


> Sometimes you have to ask for 3 year and I think most places require a one year first then then a 3 year after that. I STRONGLY suspect that the one year and 3 year are the same vaccine in the same amount just labeled differently. I asked my vet about that and he just smiled and walked away. Wouldn't say anything cause he charges more for the 3 year. :smile:


My vet told me there the same exact shot. She charges the same. Here in NY you have to get the shot before the other expires, otherwise you have to get a 1 year shot. Same shot but they make you come back in another year for the 3 year shot. What a crock.


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## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

Paws&Tails said:


> That's how it is here too. You have to register all your animals and pay a fee every year to get it done and get the tags. You can't renew it unless they have a yearly rabies shot. Which sucks. They won't accept 3 year rabies vaccines.


Ugh...that does suck :mad2: I will talk to the vet about it on Thursday and see from there.



cast71 said:


> That sux that they have different laws in every state. You should not be forced into getting the tabbies shot every year. Ridiculous! The alternative is to not license;0)


Tell me about it! I wish I hadn't...only did it because the stupid dog park required a valid county license. If I could do it over I wouldn't have :frown: I'm fighting the urge to check the "I no longer own this animal" box...but that would be lying...heh out:


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## Paws&Tails (Sep 3, 2010)

schtuffy said:


> *Ugh...that does suck* :mad2: I will talk to the vet about it on Thursday and see from there.
> 
> 
> 
> Tell me about it! I wish I hadn't...only did it because the stupid dog park required a valid county license. If I could do it over I wouldn't have :frown: I'm fighting the urge to check the "I no longer own this animal" box...but that would be lying...heh out:



Tell me about it...

I advise you to license your dog....It can, and probably will, be reported and you'll get a notice in the mail. We didn't even know about the licensing until after taking one of my cats to the vet a couple of months after moving. I think they check records. If you don't license and they find out, there will be a fine.


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## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

schtuffy said:


> I'm fighting the urge to check the "I no longer own this animal" box...but that would be lying...heh out:


It's only a small white lie, I did something similar;0)


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