[Lilah Charm]

Here in the Portland area, there are a lot of dogs who die without vaccines. There are a lot of homeless people and most of them have dogs, I bleach my shoes when I come home because you wouldn't believe what walks through my door at work. I am constantly dealing with people who have sick, wormy puppies or bring in a dog with mange (seriously? Why did you bring that in my store?) and most of the people I see ARE coming in to get an OTC vaccine from me because they know if they don't around here their dog will probably die of parvo or become very sick from something else. The scared people who's dogs are already at the end that call me on the phone and end up not coming in are the ones that wish they had come to get a vaccine. The horror stories, seventeen puppies dead who all shared the same potty spot and the same illness, the sick dogs and the devestated undereducated owners are enough for me to be a vaccine advocate; that said, now that Lilah is older and has her immunity developed I am paying for titers at my vet and I am grateful we don't have yearly rabies requirements or something crazy like that here. Also, I must note , Ashland, Oregon nearby is where the parents who weren't vaccinating their kids had a recent measles outbreak- I am grateful that my kids are healthy and able to be vaccinated and I hope that by protecting them I have also protected children who are medically fragile or have compromised immune systems and cannot get vaccinated (or like my moms dog Bella who has an auto immune disease and cannot receive regular vaccines anymore).