Heis an effect of the anti-vaccine movement that no one saw coming. Although many authorities often walk back speeches opposing vaccinations – this year the WHO again warned that vaccinations have helped prevent 154 million deaths – the ideology is gaining ground. Driven by certain political actors, such as Robert Kennedy Jr in the United States, and soon instituted by certain states (Florida recently announced its intention to remove all mandatory vaccinations), it is reaching unexpected sectors.
While childhood vaccination rates, freefall across the Atlantic, and the return of diseases after eradication (such as measles) have been documented, this was not the case in other regions. So, pay attention New York TimesFewer and fewer pet owners are inclined to have them vaccinated by a veterinarian. When questioned by American media, Dr Kelly McGuire said that one client “started shouting and insulting us before leaving the premises because we asked for an anti-rabies vaccine for his cat”.
An attitude that is already having an impact: Kelly McGuire points out that she has seen several of her patients die, especially canines, from diseases that could have been prevented with a simple injection. The daily reported that veterinarians, who have been accustomed to treating vaccination as just a formality, now have to explain at length to pet owners the relevance and importance of vaccination. Worse still: some accuse them of pushing vaccinations to enrich themselves.
52% of pet owners expressed doubts about their vaccinations
The hostility confirmed by the figures. In “Sick as a dog? Prevalence, Politicization, and Health Policy Implications of Dog Vaccine Hesitancy,” a 2023 study conducted in the United States found that 52% of pet owner respondents expressed doubts about the safety, effectiveness, or importance of vaccinating their pets.
And how can you blame them, when their own Minister of Health denounced the alleged “grave harm” of annual vaccination of pets? Near New York TimesRichard Ford, professor emeritus in the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University and one of the authors behind writing the national guidelines on cat and dog vaccination, explains, “talking to thousands of veterinarians across the country every year, the vast majority of them see problems like this. » This situation is reminiscent of many intellectuals, such as Ohio State University health services and policy researcher Simon Harder, who has studied vaccine hesitancy for animals: “Are we going to start eliminating rabies vaccination requirements? We are at a decisive turning point. »
Veterinarians interviewed mentioned distrust of vaccines against the Covid-19 pandemic. For Matt Motta, a health policy expert at Boston University, “the way the public views Covid-19 vaccines has changed their perception of all vaccines, including vaccines intended for their pets.” In addition, it seems that the owners of the furry little friends who utter words like these are themselves under- or not fully vaccinated.
Zoonotic risk
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Kangaroo today
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Apart from not protecting their fur, owners who adhere to this ideology also endanger humans. Because some animal diseases that can be eradicated with simple vaccination are zoonotic (can be transmitted to humans). This is especially true with rabies or leptospirosis.
Even in the last century, when mass vaccination campaigns for domestic animals had not yet been launched, infected dog bites accounted for the majority of human rabies cases. And Dr. Steve Weinrauch, chief veterinarian at Trupanion (a pet insurance company), reminded the daily that “our dogs now share beds. They kiss our kids.”
