Posted on 08/09/2006 10:13:41 AM PDT by Salgak
At first I was selfishly thinking these kids are going to let these animals die instead of taking the rabies shots.
Then I realized if I as a parent were asked to have my kids given the shots versus having the animals put to death: I think I would vote that no adverse rabies shot reaction for my kids is worth the life of 5 cute but easily replaced rodents:
Rabies vaccines
More than 100 years ago, Louis Pasteur and his colleagues developed the first crude rabies vaccine based on attenuated virus from desiccated nerve tissue. Unfortunately, the majority of post-exposure immunizations against rabies are still performed with vaccines of crude nerve tissue origin. Although continuously improved over the years, inactivated vaccines produced in sheep or goat brains (Semple) or suckling mouse brain (Fuenzalida) may be associated with serious adverse events. Possible post-vaccinal neurological reactions may include meningoencephalitis, meningoencephalomyelitis, mononeuritis multiplex, dorsolumbar transverse myelitis and ascending paralysis of the Landry type, usually occurring between one and two weeks after the first injection. With the Semple-type vaccines, the incidence of neurological reactions varies between 1 in 200 and 1 in 1600 recipients, with a lethality of up to 14%. Vaccines of the Fuenzalida type are associated with neurological complications in about 1 in 8000 to 1 in 27 000 courses. Furthermore, in terms of protective potency these vaccines are inferior to modern cell-derived vaccines. A complete post-exposure treatment using nerve tissue vaccines involves a prolonged and painful immunization course of up to 23 injections. Obviously, these vaccines are not recommended for pre-exposure immunization.
At first I was selfishly thinking these kids are going to let these animals die instead of taking the rabies shots.
Then I realized if I as a parent were asked to have my kids given the shots versus having the animals put to death: I think I would vote that no adverse rabies shot reaction for my kids is worth the life of 5 cute but easily replaced rodents:
Rabies vaccines
More than 100 years ago, Louis Pasteur and his colleagues developed the first crude rabies vaccine based on attenuated virus from desiccated nerve tissue. Unfortunately, the majority of post-exposure immunizations against rabies are still performed with vaccines of crude nerve tissue origin. Although continuously improved over the years, inactivated vaccines produced in sheep or goat brains (Semple) or suckling mouse brain (Fuenzalida) may be associated with serious adverse events. Possible post-vaccinal neurological reactions may include meningoencephalitis, meningoencephalomyelitis, mononeuritis multiplex, dorsolumbar transverse myelitis and ascending paralysis of the Landry type, usually occurring between one and two weeks after the first injection. With the Semple-type vaccines, the incidence of neurological reactions varies between 1 in 200 and 1 in 1600 recipients, with a lethality of up to 14%. Vaccines of the Fuenzalida type are associated with neurological complications in about 1 in 8000 to 1 in 27 000 courses. Furthermore, in terms of protective potency these vaccines are inferior to modern cell-derived vaccines. A complete post-exposure treatment using nerve tissue vaccines involves a prolonged and painful immunization course of up to 23 injections. Obviously, these vaccines are not recommended for pre-exposure immunization.
Oh, and the kid's parents...selfish, irresponsible, heartless, ignorant, sickening...apparently, the kid will grow up just like them. {{{{shudder}}}}
One did wonders for Timon.
Lassie had a gaggle of them, and look at what they did for him. Not only did they make him a dog hero, they turned him into a bitch.
I don't care about humanizing the animals.
I care about idiot parents who didn't watch their kid scale three feet of rocks and 4 feet of plexiglass at a zoo, and then when told that safety required their precious little darling to get 6 shots in the arm over a month, chose instead to have some valuable specimens destroyed.
When **I** was a kid, I had to pay for any damage I caused, and then got the crap spanked out of me by my parents
...How about unnecessary euthanination of innocent animals, any qualms about that?
"I think I would vote that no adverse rabies shot reaction for my kids is worth the life of 5 cute but easily replaced rodents:"
Perhaps the next time, the child won't be sticking her hand in a cage of "easily replaced rodents". Perhaps it will be larger animal who might like to keep her arm. If not, I don't particularly like the idea of needlessly having to kill 5 animals because some brat hasn't been taught to behave properly.
Lesson here: "Damn the rules, Sweetie. They don't apply to you. You are the most important thing EVER!"
Minnesota needs to change its health laws urgently. This is too idiotic for words. These parents can't be bothered to keep their unruly daughter from "crawling over a driftwood barrier, climbing up more than 3 feet of artificial rock and reaching over 4 feet of Plexiglas to get her arm into the exhibit, and dangling her hand low for an animal to bite her finger", but absolutely no way are they going allow her to be given 6 ordinary injections as a precaution against rabies. What the heck are they going to do when she gets herself bitten by some wild or stray animal that she's taunted, and that can't be found afterward? And what were they planning to do if one of the meerkats had tested positive for rabies? Mightn't it be a good idea for the girl to get 6 itty-bitty reminders that she shouldn't do stupid things like this?
If ever there was an appropriate time for a court to order a child to undergo a medical treatment against the parents' wishes, this was it. The zoo staffers should have "disappeared" the meerkats for a few days, disclaimed any knowledge of who actually did the deed, and then arranged for them turn up again mysteriously in some safe place. Because then a court WOULD have ordered the idiot parents to have their idiot daughter vaccinated in the interim, and perhaps the incident would have prompted legislative review of this idiot law.
Because the chickens that are slaughtered every day provide sustenance for many humans. The meerkats what were killed here were not killed for any real reason except a disease they might have had. It was a pointless exercise.
Furthermore, in terms of protective potency these vaccines are inferior to modern cell-derived vaccines.
Translation: the vaccines given today are unlike the ones with the side effects described earlier in that paragraph.
"I know you miss the Wainwrights , Bobby , but they were weak and stupid people - - and that's why we have wolves and other large predators..."
First, have you seen the age of kids in strollers these days? I swear I saw a 7 or 8-year old being pushed around in a stroller the other day. Second, I think it would have been a good opportunity to explain to the child one of life's lessons: listen to your mom, or share the fate of the meerkat!
For a kid who is prone this sort of misbehavior, and whose parents don't seem inclined to take reasonable steps to control her, I wouldn't characterize vaccination against rabies as "unnecessary".
Yes, I've noted the trend towards prolonged strollerization of children, and also the correlation between excess weight and prolonged strollerization. But if this was a child of an age that properly belonged in a stroller, it was too young to grasp such a lesson. Heck, this kid was distraught about just not getting to see the meerkats that day. And if it was an older child, it might have gotten the message that no matter how badly you misbehave, your parents, aided by the government, will make sure somebody ELSE pays the price.
I think those who do not respect all life reduces the 'value' of human life...greatly! But, You know what, that is what I THINK, not what I expect all others to think, and I don't go spouting off about what I 'THINK' like that's the gospel truth of all encompassing truths!
Oh, and nope, I don't eat chicken, beef, pork, fish, or meerkats, etc., etc.!...and yes, I AM a republican, thru and thru before you or anyone else starts throwing that liberal insult about being a vegetarian around!
I do NOT insult you or anyone else for their choices to 'dine' on living beings...however; I found your statement to be very insulting to those of us that respect all life..."humanizing'... has nothing to do with it!
No, in this situation, the health of the human comes first. Rare or endangered animals would trump the human, though, and I still think the parents should have to pay to replace the animals.
Also, are you a vegetarian? If not, spare me the sanctimony, since presumably you consume "innocent animals" all the time.
Reverse evolution. Repair of congenital defects has a similar effect. People whose genetics would not have let them survive to adulthood a century or more ago now lead normal productive (reproductive) lives.
I'm not complaining about it. Just stating what seems to be a fact.
I do not take your disagreement with my opinions to be an insult. After all, this is a "news and opinion" website. People post news articles and other people post comments about them. I find it somewhat silly that the fact that I (someone you don't even know) have a different opinion than you on this issue is somehow "insulting" to you...
I have some wonderful friends who are vegan. (Exceedingly conservative people!)
I find it hard to believe that you respect "all life". You confessed to the wonton slaughter of poor, innocent vegetables (alive by ANY definition of life.) And I suspect you do all you can to keep insects and rodents out of your home and food supply. You would never shoo a hungry child away from you food, why would you shoo away these poor living creatures who are simply hungry....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.