We analyze the quantum consistency of anomalous abelian models and of their
effective field theories, rendered anomaly-free by a Wess-Zumino term, in the
case of multiple abelian symmetries. These models involve the combined
Higgs-Stuckelberg mechanism and predict a pseudoscalar axion-like field that
mixes with the goldstones of the ordinary Higgs sector. We focus our study on
the issue of unitarity of these models both before and after spontaneous
symmetry breaking and detail the set of Ward identities and the organization of
the loop expansion in the effective theory. The analysis is performed on simple
models where we show, in general, the emergence of new effective vertices
determined by certain anomalous interactions.Comment: 67 pages, 26 figures, replaced with revised final version, to appear
on JHE