UNION-TRIBUNE (San Diego, California) 04 March 05 Perfect doggie gift: vaccine for rattlers (Ed Zieralski)
As I walked along the single-track fisherman's trail high above the Narrows section of Lake Hodges on Wednesday, I had this sudden feeling that I was trekking on dangerous ground.
The trail was grown in, covered with extra-lush vegetation thanks to the much-needed heavy winter rains. It was so thick I couldn't see where I was walking.
My thought was: Big rain. Higher brush. Bigger snakes that I can't see.
And suddenly, I really started paying attention to where I was walking and cursing the fact I didn't have my trusty walking stick.
It's getting to be that time again: rattlesnake season. Hardly a year goes by that I don't get a call or e-mail from someone or hear of someone losing or nearly losing a beloved dog to a rattlesnake bite. Around the country, thousands of dogs suffer serious injuries or die from rattlesnake bites each year.
But these days, that doesn't need to happen.
Bill Fusselman, an avid local sportsman, has a deal on a canine vaccine for rattlesnake bites that no local sportsman or woman with a hunting dog can refuse. The vaccine, produced by Red Rock Biologics based in Woodland Hills, creates an immunity in dogs that helps neutralize the complex mix of toxins in snake venom. The antibody levels in recently vaccinated dogs are comparable to treatment with three vials of antivenin.
Fusselman said he lost his first Labrador retriever, Rip Tide, to a 4-foot-plus rattler in Santee years ago.
"I vowed that would never happen again," Fusselman said.
So he took Jake, his flushing Chesapeake Bay retriever, and Little Girl, his Chesapeake pointer retriever, to Tracy Jenson's snake-proofing clinic at her High-On Kennels in Mesa Grande.
Fusselman didn't stop there, however. He took the pooches to another session at Jenson's and followed that with a trip to the Singing Hills Animal Hospital in El Cajon. It was there that he began his dogs on a series of rattlesnake vaccinations to help protect them further from rattlers.
The rattlesnake vaccine costs $18 for each shot, but being the good salesman that he is, Fusselman asked the folks at Singing Hills Animal Hospital if they would extend a discount if he could send more than 100 dog owners their way. Fusselman figures anyone with sporting or working dogs that are exposed to rattlesnakes in field work would jump at the deal. Treating a dog for a rattlesnake bite can cost between $700 and $2,000.
Fusselman said the Singing Hills Animal Hospital is offering the shots for $15 each, a savings of $3 per shot, to members of Pheasants Forever, the National Wild Turkey Federation, Quail Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited, Desert Wildlife Unlimited, South Bay Rod & Gun Club, Safari Club, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the National Rifle Association and other sporting and hunting organizations.
The vaccine covers all common Southern California rattlers, except for the Mojave rattlesnake. The series consists of two shots, three to four weeks apart, and a booster shot every six months to increase the dog's immunity to the venom as long as the dog is exposed to rattlesnakes.
Janet Jones, spokeswoman for Red Rock Biologics, told The Dallas Morning News recently that the vaccination isn't a "silver bullet" that will make dogs impervious to snakebite. She recommends that dog owners still get their dog to the veterinarian as quickly as possible if it's bitten by a rattler.
For information on the vaccine, call the Singing Hills Animal Hospital at (619) 441-5850; Red Rock Biologics is at www.redrockbiologics.com or (866) 897-7625; for Tracy Jenson's rattlesnake avoidance classes call (760) 782-0728; and for a rattlesnake or other pet emergency, call the Pet Emergency & Specialty Center at (619) 462-4800.
Perfect doggie gift: vaccine for rattlers