Pandemic vaccine hesitancy now extends to vaccines for companion animals (pets)

I am now in that camp because my fur kid was injured by the rabies vaccine

A few months ago we brought home two adorable, sweet shih tzu puppies we named Quigley (left) and Zoey (right). My husband and I began discussing what we would do concerning getting them vaccinated. In the past, I didn’t hesitate about getting my pets vaccinated but with all that has happened over the past few years, I started to question the necessity of vaccines for my fur babies.

Veterinary vaccine hesitancy on the rise

Negative attitudes toward human vaccines may “spill over” to increase vaccine hesitancy for companion animals (pets). While vaccine hesitancy isn’t a new concept, the pandemic seems to have further impacted how segments of the population feel about vaccines not only for themselves, but also for their dogs.

A recent survey in the US showed that 52% of dog owners exhibited some degree of canine vaccine hesitancy. Canine vaccine hesitancy refers to doubt about safety, efficacy, and/or importance of canine vaccination.

Authors of the survey wrote, “We find that attitudinal measures of human and pet vaccine hesitancy are closely related to each other. Moreover, they are strong predictors of vaccine behavior. Measures of vaccine hesitancy are also strong predictors of support for vaccination mandates.”

The survey was conducted by Boston University School of Public Health and captured responses from 2,200 dog owners in the US between March 30 and April 10, 2023. Results show that nearly 40% of the responding dog owners believe canine vaccines are unsafe, while more than 20% consider them ineffective, and 30% think they are medically unnecessary.

I now count myself among those dog owners who now exhibit some degree of canine vaccine hesitancy. And my adult dog will not receive any more vaccines.

A well-cared for dog can live long and age well

One big reason for my hesitancy on getting the new pups vaccinated was based on my experience with my sweet fur kid, Allie, who we had to let go of last year. Admittedly she was just shy of 19 years old and had a long life full of love and adventure, but I wholeheartedly believe that the rabies vaccine was the reason for the rapid decline in her health.

This is Allie in July 2022 at 18 years of age just prior to leaving Hawaii.

Allie was 18 years old when we relocated from Hawaii to Texas in the fall of 2022. She was a sweet, sassy little shih tzu who had been well cared for since I adopted at ten months old. I spared no expense when it came to keeping her happy and healthy. Some might have called her spoiled, but I say she was well cared for because she deserved to be. She was little, but she took up a lot of space in my life.

As Allie aged, she had developed some minor health conditions that were pretty well under control with medications and a healthy diet. At some point, the vet had diagnosed her with kidney disease which we regularly monitored via blood work and blood pressure. When I was first told about her diagnosis I switched her to a homemade kidney diet and started giving her Kidney Gold by Pet Wellbeing. This is a great product that I fully endorse. After having her on it for only a few weeks her kidney function values dropped into the normal range and stayed there for years.

While her vision wasn’t great and she had arthritis, as she aged she was still spunky enough to wander around outside and play with the neighbor dogs a bit even at the tender age of 18 (which is about 90 in human years). People were always surprised when I would tell them how old she was because she looked so good for her age. In fact, she looked better than some dogs half her age.

The rabies vaccine may have injured my geriatric fur baby

One of the requirements for pets to return to the mainland was a rabies vaccine. I was very distressed about this because I didn’t want her to get any more vaccines. Several years prior, the vet had said that Allie should not receive any more vaccines due to her age and underlying medical conditions. Besides, not only had she previously been vaccinated multiple times for rabies, had a titer test to show she had immunity. Most importantly, we lived in Hawaii which has been rabies free since 1912 when it instituted it’s rabies quarantine program. There was no risk of her importing rabies into a place nor was she at risk for contracting rabies.

At her health check prior to flying out of Hawaii, the vet also voiced her concerns about giving Allie a rabies vaccine. She did not want to give it to her. I asked her if we could get an exemption. She said we would run the risk of her not be accepted into the mainland US. Apparently, the vet had another patient that had foregone the rabies vaccine upon flying to the mainland and when they landed the officials would not allow the pet to enter the state. She said this person was made to fly back to Hawaii. In fact, in some states if the dog is not vaccinated they can be held for an extended quarantine period or euthanized. It was a difficult choice. Despite my better judgement we got her vaccinated and I regret that decision to this day.

After getting vaccinated, Allie seemed lethargic. I could tell she wasn’t feeling well which I had hoped would resolve. After arriving in Texas we dealt with chronic ear infections that were quite severe. In fact, at one point her ear was bleeding which was cause for great concern. We had a hard time getting her stable. She was on several rounds of oral and topical antibiotics.

The decline in her health was very rapid. She had a growth in her mouth that grew very rapidly. I was certain it was cancerous but there was nothing we could do about it due to her advanced age. Within 6 months she was having trouble getting around and was no longer walking up the ramp to get on the couch. She was incontinent and I was up with her several times at night to take her outside. As things progressed we had to give her pain meds to keep her comfortable at night.

This was Allie in March 2023 still at 18 years of age.

I really wanted her to have another birthday. It just got to hard for her and for me. She was losing weight despite eating four meals a day. We knew it was time. I didn’t want her to suffer any more. So two weeks before what would have been her 19th birthday in September, we let her go. She was so sweet even at the end. When the vet gave her the sedative she started gently snoring. Even though I knew it was time, it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I miss her like crazy.

While I can’t prove that the rabies vaccine was responsible for the decline in her health, I fully believe it played a significant role. I believe the vaccine suppressed her immune system which caused the chronic infections and also lead to rapid growth of her tumor. Who knows how much longer she might have lived had she not be subjected to that vaccination.

This experience caused me to start digging into the veterinary vaccine industry. You will be surprised what I discovered. If you think that human vaccines were not as fully and robustly tested as we once thought, it’s even worse for vaccines for companion animals.

To get started watch this episode of VSRF live as Steve Kirsch discusses veterinary vaccines with an experienced veterinarian of 40 years, Dr. Jennifer Ramelmeier, who is familiar with the questionable if not downright cruel treatment of pets and other animals in the name of “health”.

Find the full discussion here: https://rumble.com/v4rb8vr-vsrf-live-124-save-our-pets.html