Vaccinate those puppies, folks.

This probably won't mean much to non JJGo listeners, who haven't been subject to my blather about my new dog, but that dog, Woofie, is very sick, and the doc says he won't really be getting any better. It's particularly unfortunate, because had he been vaccinated as a puppy, this awful sickness never would have affected him.

The basic dog vaccinations, including the one for distemper, the unpleasant condition from which Woofs is suffering, are mandatory for a reason. My vet told me that in the 70s, when he started practicing, this untreatable virus was common. Since the vaccine has been in broad use, it only affects one dog every couple of years in his practice. Woofie was likely raised in a puppy farm, where they failed to vaccinate him before dumping him in a shelter. He got this awful disease from some other unvaccinated dog, and now my little buddy is going to die.

So forget about cost or risk or homeopathic paranoia or anything that might dissuade you from taking care of your next pet, and do the right thing to protect it. Please.

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