African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) are highly susceptible to infectious diseases including rabies and canine distemper transmitted from domestic dog populations living near reserves. Disease outbreaks can eliminate entire packs within weeks, creating urgent welfare and conservation crises.
Wild dogs dying from rabies experience progressive neurological disease: aggression, disorientation, and inability to coordinate movement before death. Pack members may be infected through bites from infected pack-mates, causing rapid spread through the entire social group. Disease elimination of packs causes acute suffering across multiple individuals simultaneously and disrupts the pack's complex social structure permanently. Domestic dog vaccination programs are welfare-positive on both sides: they protect domestic dogs from rabies while preventing spillover into wild dog populations. Oral vaccine baiting programs enable mass immunisation without capture stress.