I had an autistic dog. It’s true. After his vaccinations he stopped speaking.
“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 now applying to their pets.”
The increased skepticism towards inoculating pets is likely the result of a national movement that claims vaccines can cause autism in children, according to the doctor, who said she has seen an increase in clients unwilling to have their dogs vaccinated in recent years. Core vaccines for canines include distemper, hepatitis, and rabies, which is required by law.
Hip youngsters who promote a more holistic lifestyle for their pets tend to be the most vocal anti-vaxxers, Ford said, but rarely have a particular reason for leaving Fido open to infection.
“It’s actually much more common in the hipster-y areas,” she said. “I really don’t know what the reasoning is, they just feel that injecting chemicals into their pet is going to cause problems.”
A Clinton Hill–based veterinarian, however, said she has heard clients suggest the inoculations could give their pups autism, echoing the argument of those who oppose vaccinating kids. But even if pooches were susceptible to the condition, their owners probably wouldn’t notice, according to the doctor.
“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.”
Can’t articulate any particular reason, just a case of the feels.
Do they make em wear little doggy-football helmets?
When I was growing up, autistic kids used to beat their heads against stuff.
(the real “slapheads”)
Now, since schools get mo’money for each “diagnosed” kid, it can mean anything from the original to the slightly reticent.
izlamo delenda est …
Did someone say…AUTISM?!?
http://www.eatliver.com/autism/
So now in addition to having to worry about future outbreaks of polio, measles, mumps, diphtheria, etc., we can now anticipate the return of rabies epidemics …?
Come, Sweet Meteor of Death. Thy time is long overdue.
Resurgence of Rabies. Another reason to avoid hipster areas.
More challenges ahead for mailmen, home first responders, and animal shelters.
Well, go ahead then and let your dog suffer and die from a deadly virus like parvovirus. At least your pup will still be able to “talk” to you on his deathbed. Morons.
I smell a Kennedy influence. Does Robert Jr have a dog?
The same types that want their dogs and cats to be vegan. Charge the idiots with animal cruelty and take their pets away. Good grief, people get stupider every single day.
Autistic dogs…have these hipster doofi never seen a cat?
Show them scientific proof not vaccinating causes global warming. If it’s not on record yet I’m sure a climate scientist can whip one up for a price.
“I had a client concerned about an autistic child who didn’t want to vaccinate the dog for the same reason,”
Trust me any “autism” these idiot’s offspring manifests has absolutely nothing to do with vaccination.
In the first place a lot of them are as screwed up as a football bat genetically and/or given the environment the poor dumb little bastard is raised in – most of them never stand a chance of ending up even resembling normal in the first place.
I had a lefty friend–she introduced me to my wife, actually–who was one of six kids, three boys and three girls. The boys were all mental cases, and all are now dead or presumed dead: two suicides and one just disappeared. My friend married a guy whose sister had been institutionalized at a young age with autism. My friend and her husband had a son who is, shockingly, severely autistic. They blame the vaccines.
These are the same people who want to control your access to healthcare.
“Vaccines? You don’t need no stinkin vaccines!”
I think I read a bunch of stuff last year that the autism/vaccine connection has been thoroughly debunked. Like I’m going to take medical advice (especially regarding my children) from Jenny McCarthy. Keep up Hipsters!
A dog with Autism? What, he can’t look you in the eyes, but he can do complex algebra?