Heartworm disease causes serious, progressive welfare harm in dogs. Prevention is simple, but treatment is complex and costly — making prevention a critical welfare priority.
Heartworm disease causes prolonged welfare harm through chronic cardiovascular compromise — coughing, exercise intolerance, fatigue, and eventual heart failure. The disease progresses silently for months before clinical signs appear, meaning dogs suffer without obvious signals. Treatment involves killing worms in the heart, which carries risks of thromboembolism and requires strict exercise restriction for months — itself a welfare challenge for active dogs. Monthly preventive medication is safe, affordable, and almost completely protective. Prevention is dramatically more welfare-positive than treatment.