More than half of U.S. dog owners expressed concerns about vaccinating their dogs, including against rabies, according to a new study published Saturday in the journal Vaccine. The study comes as anti-vaccine sentiments among humans have exploded in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pets are now often considered to be a member of the family, and their health-care decisions are weighed with the same gravity. But the consequences of not vaccinating animals can be just as dire as humans. Dogs, for example, are responsible for 99% of rabies cases globally. Rabies, which is often transmitted via a bite, is almost always fatal for animals and people once clinical signs appear. A drop in rabies vaccination could constitute a serious public health threat.
In the new study, the authors surveyed 2,200 people and found 53% had some concern about the safety, efficacy or necessity of canine vaccines. Nearly 40% were concerned that vaccines could cause dogs to develop autism, a theory without any scientific merit.
I’m not. As much as I have no sympathy for shitty dog owners, chances are shitty dog owners are gonna keep from doing anything enough that someone innocent may get bit and unknowingly get rabies. That and shitty dog owners seem likely to simply lie about having given a rabies vaccine to their puppers. Literally I want anything and everything to help prevent innocent people (and other dogs) from getting rabies. It’s so fucking awful. Even if that includes saving some people from leaving the gene pool that might not deserve to be there.