Bristol Evening Post 05/10/1998 http://www.thisismidsomerset.co.uk/

by KAREN PRICE

DOG-owner Pam Fox will appear on TV's World in Action tonight as part of an investigation into injections given to pets.

Mrs Fox, who lives in Temple Cloud, near Bristol, has spent about £2,000 on drugs and antibiotics for Moss her Shetland sheep dog during the last three years.

The dog, now five, is believed to have had an adverse reaction to an annual booster.

Her vet is uncertain whether the vaccine was the cause.

The drug company denied any responsibility but it paid Mrs Fox several hundred pounds "as a goodwill gesture".

The retired shorthand typist, who has kept dogs for 43 years, said until Moss had the vaccine at the age of two, he had been a fit and healthy dog.

Mrs Fox, aged 65, said: "He's now too ill to play and his puppyhood has gone which is sad.

"I feel he's become an old dog too early."

Mrs Fox, who has two other dogs, is one of many dog owners featured.

It focuses on a survey by Canine Health Concern which shows higher than normal levels of distemper, allergic reactions, epilepsy and even brain damage in dogs which have annual injections.

The group's founding member Catherine O'Driscoll began her campaign to establish if there was a link between vaccinations and pet deaths after she lost three dogs. All had had vaccinations and regular boosters.

An earlier survey which involved more than 2,000 dogs convinced her there was a link.

But Ted Chandler, president of the British Veterinary Association, believes the risk is minimal. He said: "The level of reactions we get to vaccines are very small."