Dr. Kelly McGuire, who runs Wildflower Veterinary Hospital, has witnessed numerous heartbreaking cases since opening her practice four years ago.
She’s cared for a dog whose kidneys failed due to leptospirosis, a bacterial disease often spread by rodents. Several other canine patients tragically succumbed to severe parvovirus, experiencing extreme dehydration and malnutrition. Dr. McGuire even had to euthanize a 20-week-old puppy suffering from seizures, unable to rule out rabies.
These losses were particularly agonizing because they were largely preventable. With proper vaccination, these beloved pets likely would have survived.
For years, vaccinating animals was a standard, straightforward part of Dr. McGuire’s daily work. However, the landscape shifted dramatically after the COVID-19 pandemic. She now frequently engages in lengthy, often tense conversations with pet owners questioning the safety and necessity of vaccines. Some clients have even accused her of pushing vaccinations purely for financial gain. More and more, pet owners are demanding staggered vaccination schedules or outright refusing vital shots, even for fatal and untreatable diseases like rabies.
“I vividly recall a client screaming and storming out because we insisted on rabies vaccines for her cats,” Dr. McGuire recounted. The owner went as far as accusing her of attempting to ‘kill her cats with vaccines.’”
In recent years, the anti-vaccine movement has gained considerable traction across the United States. This surge has been partly fueled by the politicization of COVID-19 vaccines and the rising influence of vaccine critics, including figures like Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Consequently, childhood vaccination rates have declined, and once-controlled diseases, such as measles, have re-emerged with force. Furthermore, vaccine mandates are facing intense scrutiny; just last month, Florida declared its intention to eliminate all vaccine requirements, even for schoolchildren.
Unfortunately, this skepticism isn’t confined to human health; it’s now extending into veterinary medicine, causing some pet owners to hesitate or refuse to vaccinate their animal companions.
“I speak with thousands of veterinarians nationwide annually, and most are encountering this precise problem,” stated Dr. Richard Ford, an emeritus professor at North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and a co-author of national vaccine guidelines for pets.
This alarming trend mirrors the human anti-vaccine movement and could, experts warn, steer the nation toward a dangerous future: relaxed animal vaccination laws, plummeting pet vaccination rates, and a resurgence of infectious diseases threatening both animals and their human families.
“Will we see mandates for rabies vaccinations begin to unravel?” pondered Simon Haeder, a health services and policy researcher at Ohio State University who has studied veterinary vaccine hesitancy. “We are truly at a crossroads.”
A Worrying Trend: Pet Owners’ Growing Reluctance
While comprehensive data on U.S. pet vaccination rates is scarce, recent studies indicate that a substantial portion of pet owners harbor concerns regarding animal vaccinations.
A 2023 survey revealed that 52% of pet owners felt uncertain about the safety, effectiveness, or necessity of pet vaccinations. A subsequent study in 2024 further estimated that 22% of dog owners and 26% of cat owners could be categorized as vaccine hesitant.
Similar to human vaccine hesitancy, this trend in veterinary care predates the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s fueled by various factors, including a growing distrust in institutions and authority, alongside the pervasive influence of social media.
However, experts concur that the pandemic significantly amplified anti-vaccine sentiments, further eroding public trust in science and transforming vaccination into a highly politicized and prominent topic.
“The public’s perception of the COVID-19 vaccine has fundamentally altered how they view all vaccines, even those for their pets,” explained Matt Motta, a Boston University health policy expert specializing in human and animal vaccine attitudes.
Studies have drawn clear links between the two phenomena. For instance, a Brazilian study found that pet owners who were not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 were more inclined to have unvaccinated pets.
This transference of sentiment isn’t surprising, given that many people consider their pets integral family members. “It’s entirely logical that they would extend their conclusions about human vaccines to pet vaccines,” commented Lori Kogan, a researcher in human-animal interactions at Colorado State University.
Echoes of Human Anti-Vax Sentiments in the Pet World
The veterinary field has also seen the rise of its own anti-vaccine influencers, actively spreading skepticism about animal immunizations. Disturbingly, some of these concerns are amplified by the very organizations leading the human anti-vaccine movement, such as Children’s Health Defense, founded by Mr. Kennedy, Jr., which recently published a book alleging “tremendous harm” from annual pet vaccines.
Many pet owners hesitant about vaccines echo familiar concerns from the human anti-vax movement. They worry about over-vaccination, prefer “natural” immunity from disease exposure, and even express fears that vaccines could cause cognitive or behavioral changes, including “pawtism.”
“The idea of ‘pawtism’ is definitely out there,” noted Dr. Brennen McKenzie, a California veterinarian who runs SkeptVet, a blog dedicated to evidence-based veterinary medicine.
Scientifically, this notion is baseless. The link between vaccines and autism in humans has been thoroughly disproven, and autism itself is not a recognized diagnosis in animal species.
To be fair, some historical concerns about vaccine safety and frequency weren’t entirely baseless. Earlier versions of the leptospirosis vaccine, particularly for small dogs, carried a slightly higher risk of severe allergic reactions. In cats, there’s a rare risk of injection-site sarcomas, a type of cancer.
However, experts emphasize that these serious side effects were always uncommon, and risks have significantly decreased thanks to reformulated vaccines and refined vaccination protocols over recent years.
Veterinary vaccination guidelines have also adapted. Once recommending annual boosters for many vaccines, practices have shifted as evidence emerged of longer-lasting immunity. Now, many boosters are administered every three years.
“The past 20 years have brought significant changes in vaccine practices, showcasing our continuous effort to develop better, safer, and more effective methods,” Dr. McKenzie highlighted.
In essence, experts note that vaccine-hesitant owners often overstate vaccine risks while downplaying the dangers of infectious diseases. This challenge parallels one faced by pediatricians: successful vaccination campaigns have made diseases like rabies and parvovirus so rare that many pet owners no longer perceive them as significant threats.
The striking similarities between human and pet anti-vaccine movements are so pronounced that Dr. McGuire is part of a collaborative group of veterinarians and pediatricians who share insights and strategies for addressing this growing hesitancy.
“We often discuss how exhausting it is to have the same conversation repeatedly,” she admitted. “Ultimately, we’re just trying to save these dogs and cats.”
The Real Stakes: Understanding Disease Risks
The U.S. lacks a centralized database for pet vaccination rates, making it difficult to confirm if rates have declined. “We have a significant data challenge,” explained Dr. Audrey Ruple, a veterinary epidemiologist at Virginia Tech. However, she warned, “we will absolutely know once diseases begin to resurface.”
A drop in pet vaccination rates wouldn’t just jeopardize animal health; it poses a direct threat to humans too. Several vaccine-preventable diseases, such as leptospirosis and rabies, are zoonotic, meaning they can transfer from animals to people. “Our dogs are sleeping in our beds and kissing our children’s faces,” observed Dr. Steve Weinrauch, chief veterinary officer at Trupanion, a pet insurance company.
Historically, before widespread pet vaccination campaigns in the mid-20th century, rabid dog bites were responsible for the majority of human rabies cases in the U.S.
While most states mandate rabies vaccines for dogs, the regulations vary, and not all states enforce them. With rising anti-vaccine sentiment, Dr. Motta expresses concern that politicians might exploit this trend by weakening these crucial requirements.
“As recent months have vividly demonstrated, health policy is highly dynamic,” Dr. Motta emphasized. “It’s often influenced by political agendas and public sentiment.”
Dr. Ford advocates for veterinarians to proactively address this issue. He notes that if anything has been learned from human public health, it’s that ignoring vaccine concerns doesn’t make them disappear.
“Some medical professionals, both human and veterinary, adopt a ‘just get the vaccine’ attitude,” he explained. “But we’re striving to persuade veterinarians to genuinely listen to and address these concerns.”
