August 06, 2017
You ever see one of those stories that made you wish end times – aka the apocalypse – would just hurry up and get here?
Yeah, me too. In fact, I saw one this Sunday morning. It came from The Brooklyn Paper, a weekly newspaper that covers its namesake New York City borough, earlier this week.
Here’s the headline: “Anti-vax movement prompts Brooklynites to withhold inoculations from their pets, vets say.”
At first, I figured this was some sort of homage to The Onion as it has all the tell-tale signs of a parody: Hipsters don’t want their dogs to be diagnosed with autism so they’d rather withhold protection against deadly diseases that could spread from pooch to people.
But parody, ‘twas not. Take a look at a couple of quotes from said piece:
“We do see a higher number of clients who don’t want to vaccinate their animals,” said Dr. Amy Ford of the Veterinarian Wellness Center of Boerum Hill. “This may be stemming from the anti-vaccine movement, which people are applying to their pets.”
“I had a client concerned about an autistic child who didn’t want to vaccinate the dog for the same reason,” said Dr. Stephanie Liff of Clinton Hill’s Pure Paws Veterinary Care. “We’ve never diagnosed autism in a dog. I don’t think you could.”
“I’ve bumped into a couple people who told me ‘Don’t vaccinate your dog,’ ” said (Park Slope dog owner) Adam Weller. “I’m like, ‘Okay, have a nice day!’”
Folks, just like with the anti-vaxx people movement, the anti-vaxx dog movement is just flat-out insanity.
There is no link between vaccines and autism, per respected scientific sources.
Also, “it is too early for mainstream veterinary authorities to confidently confirm that dogs can develop autism.”
But, you know what dogs CAN get? Rabies. And you know what happens when dogs get rabies? They can get angry, they can harm others and they can get euthanized.
Take a look:
This is why the Philadelphia city code requires it thusly:
"Vaccination Required. All dogs and cats must be vaccinated for rabies. Verification of vaccination will be recognized only upon the presentation of a vaccination certificate signed by a veterinarian or veterinary hospital."
People, don’t be like those Brooklyn hipsters, who are more likely than not millennials hellbent on killing off the notion of pet ownership in America. This trend has to be quarantined to that borough.
Vaccinate your children.
Vaccinate your pets.
Stop being so gosh darn silly about everything; this is serious business.
