Mange in dogs causes intensely itchy or severe skin disease depending on the type, and requires diagnosis and appropriate treatment to resolve welfare harm.
Sarcoptic mange causes one of the most intensely pruritic conditions in veterinary medicine: affected dogs scratch, bite, and rub continuously with no relief, causing self-trauma, open wounds, and secondary infections. The misery of untreated sarcoptic mange rivals that of any acute welfare emergency. Generalized demodectic mange causes extensive hair loss, skin thickening, and secondary bacterial infection causing pain and immune suppression. Both conditions are now highly treatable with modern isoxazoline anti-parasiticides. Delays in diagnosis - often due to mange being misidentified as allergic skin disease - prolong suffering that effective treatment could rapidly relieve.