Rabies vaccine hesitancy a recurring topic for NH veterinarians, legislators

Last month, the House Environment and Agriculture Committee recommended reconsidering the contents of a sidelined bill from last session: House Bill 1488, which sought to increase rabies vaccine exemptions for New Hampshire pets. The bill was sent for interim study by the full New Hampshire House in March and, with the 2026 session closed and the biennium winding down, was no longer eligible for passage. Instead, the committee voted, 10-1, to recommend the topic be addressed in future legislation. That move came as a surprise to some. “Truthfully, we didn’t think it was going to go as far,” said Dr. Jane Barlow Roy, who chairs the legislative committee of the New Hampshire Veterinary Medical Association. That’s because there is broad consensus among veterinarians that the rabies vaccine — which protects against a disease both transmissible to humans and universally fatal — is safe and life-saving.

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