Dog rabies vaccination vs. people rabies vaccination?

Question

how come people do not need to get a vaccination shot every year like my dog does? I have an tiny maltese dog, it is an indoor (it lives in the house) dog and there is no chance of it getting rabies, but because of my laws here I have to get a rabies shot for it every year. my vet sends me a card reminding me of it, if i do not follow up the vet will contact the city who will then contact me, the same for licensing and such.

anyway, here is my question, regardless of the law, is it truly necessaryy to vaccinate my dog every year (or every 3 years with some of the shots)? if it is, then my follow u-p question would be "how come people do not need to be vaccinated every year for rabies"?

NOTE: please, before someone sends me angry messages because they think i am mean or soemthing, I AM VACCINATING my dog, I am just curious if it is important for an indoor dog is all. thanks.

Answer 1

I would recommend talking to your vet about it - but even though it is an indoor dog, I am sure it goes out sometimes (even if just with you).

that being said - it is the law in your area for annual rabies.

regarding the people question -- rabies is rare in people and almost always involves a bite from a rabid domestic animal.  One of the ways that we protect the public from increased human rabies cases is to increase vaccination of the animals most likely to pass it humans - dogs and cats.  

Some people do get rabies vaccinations (pre-exposure) - vets, vet techs, animal control officers, people who work with animals extensively.  One of the risks of jobs like those is that they will get bitten and by animals they might not know.  So they get vaccinated and then get a booster every 1-3 years depending on the level of animal contact that they have.