New study reports nearly 40% of dog owners believe canine vaccines are unsafe

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - A new study reports among dog owners 37% believe canine vaccines are unsafe, 22% found them to be ineffective, and 30% found them to be unnecessary.

“I think a lot of it started with the COVID pandemic, a lot of hesitancy for vaccines and humans, and it’s kind of spilled over into dogs,” said Dr. Ian Johnson, an Associate Veterinarian with All Cats and Dogs Animal Hospital. “We vaccinate almost every patient for at least rabies and often many other vaccines, and have very little to no side effects from those patients.”

While pets can have adverse reactions to vaccines, Johnson says it’s rare.

“I have given thousands of vaccines at this point and have never had a vaccine cause life-threatening issues apart from an allergic reaction, which could be to anything, not just a vaccine,” Johnson said.

Johnson encourages those with vaccine hesitancy to do their own research, utilizing resources like the Center for Disease Control and added that human and pet vaccines are actually quite similar.

“There are two types of vaccines, some are killed vaccines, so you’re just exposing the body to parts of a pathogen and the body makes immunity from that,” Johnson said. “Other vaccines are called modified live and they are giving you a little bit of that infection, but at such a small quantity that it just allows your body to have a strong immune reaction and therefore be protected going down the road.”

Johnson also stressed the importance of getting your pet vaccinated, saying it could mean life or death for your pet and you.

“Prevention is worth a lot more than a cure at our rate, especially things like rabies, there is no cure for rabies,” Johnson said. “If your pet gets rabies, that’s the end of the road for them and it’s life-threatening for humans as well.”

Much like humans, pets can also get boosters for their vaccines to help keep the immune system in fighting shape.

Copyright 2023 WBKO. All rights reserved.