Colorado regulators worried about rabies in imported dogs, a disease they thought was eradicated

Three months after a pet rescue imported a puppy with rabies to Colorado, the state is taking action. That incident resulted in 54 people being treated for rabies and 12 dogs being euthanized.

CBS Colorado has learned -- from an open records request -- it isn't an isolated case. 

In 2020, another imported puppy exposed two dozen people to rabies, including Drew and Christine Frank, who were in some ways the canaries in the coal mine.

We spoke to them about a year after the rabies scare.

"This was an innocent little puppy," Drew recalled. "We were just playing with it, and you'd have no clue."

Their friends had adopted the puppy from a rescue. The Franks took their dog and 18-month-old daughter to meet it. Days later, they learned it was rabid.

Christine was pregnant at the time, "Nobody had experience with this let alone someone who's pregnant."

The family was vaccinated for rabies the same day.

"I feel extremely lucky," Christine says. "It's 100% fatal."   

Drew says they didn't think to warn others until they saw a CBS Colorado story about a rise in puppy importing, "Everyone we talk to who's thinking about getting a dog, there's a cautionary tale there. But it wasn't something we were going to scream from the rooftops because we thought it was a one-in-a-million thing."

So did Aron Jones. She owns Moms and Mutts Rescue which brought the two puppies to Colorado.

"They all had health certificates and were inspected by a veterinarian. There's really not anything I can think of that we would have done differently that would made an impact. Point 000213% of the dogs that we have saved have tested positive for rabies. And the only reason we know this is because we have required testing, other rescues don't have required testing," said Jones.  

State regulators say Jones followed all the rules.  

Nick Fisher now wants to change the rules. He's in charge of enforcing Colorado's Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act or PACFA, "There's got to be something in place where this doesn't happen."

Last year, he began requiring Disease Control and Treatment Plans from all rescues and shelters. Moms and Mutts complied. 

But Fisher says many facilities have not, "We've given people the opportunity to self-regulate, and it's not working."

Under proposed new rules, dogs, cats, and ferrets would have to be vaccinated for rabies and other diseases before entering the state. 

Fisher says they would also have to be quarantined for two weeks before they're put up for adoption in places like large pet stores, "How many people would you expose? How scary is that?"

Jones says she already quarantines shelter dogs before importing them, but vaccinating them, she says, would lead to unintended consequences. 

She imports most puppies at 8-10 weeks old. They need to be 12 weeks for vaccinations. She says Colorado will end up with a puppy shortage.  

"People are going to take it into their own hands. They are going to go to Texas and get their own puppies without any regulations. Backyard breeders are going to go wild."

She says the rule is an overcorrection by PACFA and insists her safety protocols - including requiring people wear disposable gowns and gloves at adoption events - make more sense. Vaccines don't help dogs that are already infected, and in some cases, they don't exhibit symptoms for months.  

Fisher says he receives complaints every week about sick dogs that were adopted. He worries there are rabies cases that go unreported because most rescues euthanize dogs for diseases that mimic rabies but don't test them like Moms and Mutts does, "It's a huge public safety issue for us."  

He says anyone looking to adopt should do their homework. But violations aren't publicly posted. Fisher says he's working on that.