Public confidence in adult and childhood vaccines has been on the decline—only made worse by COVID-19 vaccine misperceptions and mistrust. But now it appears that vaccine skepticism is extending to shots for pets too.
A new study published in the journal Vaccine found that US pet owners who harbor mistrust in the safety and efficacy of childhood and adult vaccines are also more likely to hold negative views about vaccinating their four-legged friends.
According to the survey—conducted with 2,200 pet owners nearly 40 percent of respondents believed that pet vaccines are unsafe, more than 20 percent believed these vaccines are ineffective, and 30 percent considered them to be medically unnecessary. About 37 percent of pet owners also believed that vaccinations could cause their pets to develop autism.
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