Canine parvovirus is a highly contagious, often fatal disease that causes severe gastrointestinal illness in unvaccinated dogs, with puppies suffering the highest mortality rates.
Parvovirus causes intense suffering. The hemorrhagic gastroenteritis leads to profuse, bloody diarrhea and violent vomiting that rapidly dehydrate affected dogs. The gut lining is destroyed, allowing bacteria to cross into the bloodstream causing sepsis. Bone marrow suppression leaves dogs unable to fight infection. Affected puppies experience days of severe pain, nausea, and weakness before either recovering or dying. The disease is entirely preventable through vaccination, making every case a preventable welfare failure. Unvaccinated dogs in shelters, those acquired from unethical breeders, and dogs in communities with low vaccination rates bear the overwhelming burden of this disease.