[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by pstinard

I can understand not wanting to give an elderly, unhealthy dog a rabies shot, but I'm curious about the legal ramifications of not giving a dog a rabies vaccination. Does a veterinarian have to sign off on it? If you don't give a dog a rabies vaccination and your vet knows about it, are they obligated to report you to animal control?

Here are a few articles I found on the subject. Evidently, it's possible to get a vaccination waiver from your vet (which needs to be approved by animal health authorities), but it doesn't absolve the pet owner of legal responsibilities if the dog contracts or transmits rabies:

Is Opting Out of Rabies Vaccination an Option for Pet Owners | petMD

https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Pag...on-Waiver.aspx

I think most of the time no one knows. My mom stopped doing all vaccines on the dogs I grew up with and there were never any issues but we didn't really take them places and stuff like I do with my yorkies. 2 of them still ended up dying of cancer.