RABIES : 



The Division, through town Animal Inspectors or Animal Control Officers, 

 issues quarantines whenever a person is reported to have been bitten by an ani- 

 mal. This program, together with laws mandating rabies vaccination for all 

 dogs, provides on-going protection against rabies, a disease which is usually 

 fatal when contracted by humans. With rabies in wildlife (raccoons) on the 

 increase in the mid-Atlantic states, vigilance against it has been stepped up 

 throughout the Northeast. Guard Dog Business licensing was inaugurated in FY 

 83 and had its first complete year in FY84 with 14 businesses licensed. Many 

 were inspected and one was closed after court action against the owner. This 

 program is animal protective in intent and the MSPCA and ARL's are the principal 

 inspecting agencies. A new law, requiring the licensing of Hearing Ear Dog 

 Training Kennels, was passed in FY84. Hearings for rules and regulations to 

 permit inspections and licensing are scheduled for early FY85. 



MAJOR PROBLEMS : 



At the close of FY84 the Division of Animal Health cites the following 

 problem areas: 



1. Further and continuing disintegration of the large animal diagnostic 

 services at Paige Laboratory, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. 

 Mastitis testing, large animal diagnostics and poultry testing programs 

 there are understaffed and undersupplied. On the managerial level 

 interest in these services is minimal. Via a contract, the Division of 

 Animal Health provided the sum of $14,000 to upgrade testing there. 

 This was truly the proverbialdrop in the bucketful of need. A very 

 large sum, at least $500,000, and awakening interest from the College 

 of Food and Natural Resources is desperately needed. 



2. The Division of Animal Health itself is operating at 80% of its per- 

 mitted personnel base. At the end of FY84 it had nine operating 

 vehicles - out of a base need of fifteen. Vacant positions cannot be 

 filled unless cars are provided. State cars currently in use by the 

 field staff are on lease to the Division by the Motor Vehicle 

 Management Bureau. 



The two problems listed above are crucial to the operation of the Division 

 of Animal Health. Without fully capable and prompt diagnostic services, animal 

 diseases spread rapidly, increasing with each day the monetary value of the 

 losses incurred. Without a full complement of professional and office help, the 

 records for disease control cannot be maintained nor can field surveillance be 

 completed. Testing is well below 100% as is vaccination. Disease prevention 

 is cost effective; disease outbreaks cost millions. 



IN CONCLUSION: 



We have met many goals of disease eradication. The Commonwealth rates 



"Free" in Bovine Brucellosis, "Accredited Free" in Tuberculosis, "Pullorum Free" 

 in poultry. We have this with dedicated field and office personnel, with the 

 help and cooperation of farmers, veterinarians, members of Massachusetts Farm 

 Bureau Federation, the USDA-APHIS people, the humane societies, the University 

 of Massachusetts, the Waltham Field Station and many, many others. We have also 

 had the support of the Commissioner of Food and Agriculture, the Secretary of 

 Environmental Affairs, both houses of the Legislature and the Executive Office. 

 We feel this state's enviable status, in major animal disease areas, mirrors 

 this joint effort. 



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