African wild dogs are highly vulnerable to infectious diseases including rabies and canine distemper that can wipe out entire packs, making disease management central to conservation.
Wild dog packs affected by rabies experience deaths that involve neurological deterioration, behavioral changes, and acute suffering over days. The welfare tragedy of disease outbreaks is compounded by the social disruption - packs that lose breeding adults collapse as a social unit, leaving surviving members unable to raise pups. Disease prevention through domestic dog vaccination reduces both individual welfare harm and the social welfare impacts of pack disruption. The welfare of each individual wild dog is inseparable from the welfare of their pack.