When Vaccine Hesitancy Walks Into the Exam Room

In the wake of The New York Times’ recent article, “Vaccine Skepticism Comes for Pet Owners, Too” (Oct. 27, 2025), veterinarians across the country are finding themselves in new — and sometimes uncomfortable — territory.

What was once a straightforward wellness conversation has turned into a debate. Clients are questioning rabies laws, declining core vaccines, and insisting on “detoxes” after shots. Some even accuse veterinarians of pushing vaccines for profit.

Dr. Kelly McGuire, a Colorado veterinarian featured in the Times article, has seen the heartbreaking consequences firsthand — preventable deaths from parvovirus, leptospirosis, and even a rabies-suspect puppy euthanasia. All cases that could have been avoided with routine vaccination.

The parallels to the human anti-vaccine movement are impossible to ignore. Studies cited in the article show that over half of U.S. pet owners now express uncertainty about the safety or necessity of pet vaccines. About one in four could be classified as vaccine hesitant. Many of these beliefs trace directly back to human health misinformation amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic.

And now, organized anti-vaccine groups are targeting the veterinary world. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Children’s Health Defense, for instance, has started publishing claims about “vaccine injury” in pets — including references to so-called “pawtism.” The term is absurd, but the impact isn’t. The erosion of public trust in science doesn’t stop with people; it’s infecting animal care, too.

As the Times notes, dismissing client fears outright doesn’t work. The “just do it” approach alienates owners and reinforces distrust. Instead, veterinarians must double down on communication — pairing empathy with education. That means acknowledging valid concerns (like historical leptospirosis reactions or feline injection-site sarcomas) while explaining how modern vaccines and protocols have evolved to be safer and more effective.

If we’ve learned anything from human public health, it’s that ignoring misinformation allows it to spread. And the stakes for our profession — and our patients — couldn’t be higher.

Vaccines save lives. Our job now is to protect that truth just as fiercely as we protect the animals in our care.

Read The NY Times article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/science/vaccines-pets-dogs-cats.html