Cash Strapped Pet Owners Fail To Vaccinate Pets

Vets are warning cash-strapped pet owners that low vaccination levels are putting their animals at risk of serious and even potentially deadly disease after a survey showed many animal lovers blame cost for failing to immunise their animals.

A YouGov poll, commissioned at the start of National Vaccination Month which is being spearheaded throughout May by wildlife broadcaster Chris Packham, showed that where owners of a cat, dog, rabbit or horse are failing to vaccinate, cost is a factor in more than 39% of cases.

The survey supports evidence from industry data that shows more than half of Britain's pets are being left unvaccinated and vulnerable to disease.
An increase in outbreaks of parvovirus a killer in dogs and puppies and evidence to suggest that three quarters of vet practices in the UK have seen Cat Flu in the past year is fuelling fears of disease hotspots developing across the country.

According to the YouGov survey, around two fifths (37%) of those failing to vaccinate their pets say they last did so within the last two years. The majority (55%) say they last vaccinated their pets within the past three years compared to just 11% who last vaccinated their animals between three and four years ago. There are strong regional variations in vaccination levels. The survey suggests pet owners in the West Midlands are the worst culprits with half of pet owners admitting their animals are unvaccinated. Next comes the North West where 43% of pets have either lapsed immunity or never been vaccinated. Other regional variations include; North East 24% unvaccinated; Yorkshire/Humber 35%; East Midlands 24%; West Midlands 50%; East of England 28%; London 35%; South East 29%; South West 26%; Wales 25%; Scotland 20%.

TV's Zoo Vet Matt Brash said 'There appears to be a worrying trend of falling vaccination' among those not protecting their pets, large numbers have stopped within the past two years. It is also really concerning that families with pets appear hardest hit.

'There do appear to be some regional trends with sharper falls in Wales and the East of England, which as a vet is of even greater concern. If vaccination falls below a certain level in parts of the country, this could have an impact on herd immunity with the result that we could start to see disease hotspots developing.'

Chris Packham is leading May's National Vaccination Month Campaign in a bid to halt the trend in falling vaccination. Vet practices across the country will be offering a discount on vaccination through their website to encourage pet owners whose cats, dogs, rabbits and horses are unprotected, not to cut back on life-saving healthcare.

Chris, who is the owner of two poodles, Itchy and Scratchy said 'Signs that people have cut back and are not vaccinating their animals while at the same time killer diseases such as parvovirus may be on the increase are really concerning.

'As a dog owner myself, I am hoping that this campaign could be the incentive pet owners need to get their animals back on track with vaccinations and help them stay healthy.

'Animal disease is something that rarely hits the headlines but this year we are marking 10 years since the Foot and Mouth outbreak decimated Britain's farm animal population. That was a very visible example of a terrible disease outbreak. Without wishing to scare people, pet disease is also lurking out there ' it is the kind of thing that you never think is going to happen to your beloved pet but when it does, it is devastating.'

By logging onto nvmonline pet owners can download a voucher for a discounted vaccination offering savings of around '30 from participating surgeries throughout May. Unvaccinated and eligible dogs, cats, rabbits and horses are all included in the scheme and more than 2000 vet practices are taking part in the campaign nationwide.