Should pet owners be allowed to not vaccinate their pets?
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In the four years since she opened her own veterinary practice, Dr. Kelly McGuire has seen her fair share of heartbreaking cases.
There was the dog whose kidneys shut down after it contracted leptospirosis, a bacterial disease often carried by rodents. Several of her canine patients had come down with such severe cases of parvovirus that they died after “sloughing their guts to the point of dehydration and malnutrition,” said McGuire, who owns Wildflower Veterinary Hospital in Brighton, Colorado. And, after she was unable to rule out rabies, she had been forced to euthanize a 20-week-old puppy that was having seizures.
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Pet portraits in the waiting room of Wildflower Veterinary Hospital in Brighton, Colo., Oct. 21, 2025. Anti-vaccine sentiment is spilling over into veterinary medicine, making some owners hesitant to vaccinate their pets, even for fatal diseases like rabies. (Jimena Peck/The New York Times)
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Dr. Kelly McGuire administers a vaccine to Cousin, a 14-week-old golden retriever, who was plied with cheese before the shot at the Wildflower Veterinary Hospital in Brighton, Colo., Oct. 21, 2025. Anti-vaccine sentiment is spilling over into veterinary medicine, making some owners hesitant to vaccinate their pets, even for fatal diseases like rabies. (Jimena Peck/The New York Times)
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Dr. Kelly McGuire, owner of Wildflower Veterinary Hospital, in Brighton, Colo., Oct. 21, 2025. Anti-vaccine sentiment is spilling over into veterinary medicine, making some owners hesitant to vaccinate their pets, even for fatal diseases like rabies. (Jimena Peck/The New York Times)
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A bordetella vaccine is prepared to be administered at the Wildflower Veterinary Hospital in Brighton, Colo., Oct. 21, 2025. Anti-vaccine sentiment is spilling over into veterinary medicine, making some owners hesitant to vaccinate their pets, even for fatal diseases like rabies. (Jimena Peck/The New York Times)
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Dr. Kelly McGuire prepares to give Finley, a 9-year-old retriever, a bordetella vaccine at the Wildflower Veterinary Hospital in Brighton, Colo., Oct. 21, 2025. Anti-vaccine sentiment is spilling over into veterinary medicine, making some owners hesitant to vaccinate their pets, even for fatal diseases like rabies. (Jimena Peck/The New York Times)
