In the study, published in the medical journal Vaccine, researchers asked 2,200 Americans their thoughts on vaccines and whether they were dog owners. If they were, respondents were then asked whether they would vaccinate their dogs for rabies.
Approximately half of the pet owners surveyed expressed some degree of vaccine hesitancy — with 53% saying they believed vaccines administered to dogs were unsafe, ineffective or unnecessary, the study found.
I probably should have included this in the body, too:
So there are already dogs out there without their rabies vaccines, and it’s probably only going to get worse. Great.
If your dog bites someone and is not vaccinated, the typical procedure is to euthanize the dog and cut its head off for testing, at the owner’s expense.
It’s a huge fuck around and find out situation for these idiots, and that’s with rabies being extremely rare.
Yeah, but the dog deserves a better human. This punishes the dog and the human. We should just punish the human.
Better laws would be that you can’t own a dog that isn’t vaccinated. I know that doesn’t solve the problem after a bite, but it would help the dogs in the long run.
100% agreed. Just wanted that info about the consequences added to the conversation. Might sway someone to protect their animals.
Cut the owners head off and sent it for rabies testing?
“Sir, your pet bit someone and doesn’t have their rabies vaccine. Due to a new animal compassion law, I’m going to have to cut your fucking head off.”
(Pulls out rusty serrated knife)
This isn’t entirely accurate. Unless it’s a repeat offender when it comes to biting or the animal is exhibiting symptoms of illness, the general practice is for the animal to be quarantined for ten days either at home or a veterinary clinic or shelter. The animal must have exams performed by a veterinarian every few days to check for signs of illness. At the end of the ten day period, the animal must have one final exam to be released from quarantine. After each exam a report must be sent to the county humane officer.
This is the protocol in the state of Wisconsin. I’ve worked in shelters and veterinary clinics in the state, so this is something we deal with regularly. Last year we even had a dog bite another person while they were supposed to be quarantining at home. That dog was not euthanized.
Good to know, I appreciate your clarification. My wife is a Vet Tech, and I knew I wasn’t telling the full story since it isn’t my field.