Canine distemper is a devastating multisystemic viral disease with significant welfare implications for unvaccinated dogs, making vaccination the most important welfare protection available.
Distemper causes intense suffering through multisystem disease: respiratory distress, diarrhoea, neurological damage, and in many cases death. Survivors with neurological sequelae suffer chronic welfare compromise from seizures and progressive neurological deterioration. Vaccination prevents this entirely preventable suffering with excellent efficacy. Vaccination access gaps in low-income communities maintain CDV risk for all unvaccinated dogs, making community immunity a collective welfare responsibility.