It's come to this: The anti-vax movement is now after your dog
Here we are, coming up on three years of dealing with COVID, and not only are people still arguing about vaccines against the disease, the anti-vax sentiment that seemed to blossom when the COVID vaccine became available in 2021 has now crosspollinated and found its way into the veterinary clinic. A study just published by the journal Vaccine, part of the ScienceDirect network, showed that more than half of American respondents now have questions about vaccinating their dogs – even against rabies.
The Vaccine study, done in conjunction with YouGov, the public opinion polling outfit, questioned 2,200 Americans between March 30 and April 10 of this year and found that 53 percent of respondents had what the study called some “hesitancy” about vaccinating their dogs. This is a bigger problem than you’d think. According to the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 99 percent of all rabies cases worldwide are contracted through dogs that are household pets. Even scarier than that, rabies is almost always fatal once dogs or humans show symptoms. It’s a vicious disease, and the best way to control it is by vaccinating dogs. Given those figures, you’d think that vaccinations for dogs would be a slam-dunk, wouldn’t you?
Think again.
This is my bi-weekly Salon column, which I missed two bi-weeks ago because I had COVID. To read the rest of the column, follow the link here.
Am I the only one who thinks that Americans are getting dumber and dumber? This is nonsense: Rabies is a deadly disease. As someone who grew up before the polio vaccines, I thank God every day we have these vaccines available. Forgo them at your own peril but at least protect your beloved companions.
Since we be old men, Lucian, we can remember the scourge of distemper in dogs, so many pet deaths until the vaccine. And dog pets no longer get rabies (another story I will write about with one of my dogs). I have little hope for that portion of our population not believing science or reality. Watching a news broadcast where a woman our age was asked about Trump, "What do you like most about him?" She answered in all seriousness, "He never lies to us." There is no cure for stupid.