--- title: People Aren't Vaccinating Dogs Because of Autism Fears description: The British Veterinary Association is urging pet owners to keep vaccinating dogs amidst a trend of pet owners who fear autism. canonical: https://time.com/5258627/dogs-vaccination-autism/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-28T14:23:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:07:06.534Z article:section: Health og:title: Veterinary Group: Dogs Can't Get Autism, So Please Keep Vaccinating Them og:description: There's a troubling trend among pet owners og:url: https://time.com/5258627/dogs-vaccination-autism/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e9d6b108e35bc54/69892f0386f68e7d236e907b/dog-vet-vaccines.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6925 og:image:height: 3895 og:image:alt: At the veterinarian og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Veterinary Group: Dogs Can't Get Autism, So Please Keep Vaccinating Them twitter:description: There's a troubling trend among pet owners twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e9d6b108e35bc54/69892f0386f68e7d236e907b/dog-vet-vaccines.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Veterinary Group: Dogs Can't Get Autism, So Please Keep Vaccinating Them > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=741c3d8e-d9ee-49c8-8f18-651282b254c8&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Apr 28, 2018 2:23 PM UTC  Cute dog is looking at his guardian while is being examined by the veterinarian Cute dog is looking at his guardian while is being examined by the veterinarian vadimguzhva—Getty Images/iStockphoto  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Apr 28, 2018 2:23 PM UTC Yes, you should vaccinate your pets. And no, they can’t get autism. That’s the surreal message the British Veterinary Association (BVA) is pushing out to pet owners. It comes amid [a mounting trend of individuals who refuse to vaccinate their dogs](http://time.com/4883849/can-dogs-get-autism/) due to a mistaken belief that shots can cause autism. This theory — which originally stems from a [widely discredited and later retracted 1998 study](http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/01/05/autism.vaccines/index.html) that purported to find a link between autism and the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine — has been repeatedly [disproven in humans](http://time.com/3827309/vaccines-autism-siblings/), and has no scientific basis when it comes to animals. “There’s currently no reliable scientific evidence to indicate autism in dogs (or its link to vaccines),” the BVA wrote in a tweet Tuesday, after the morning show _Good Morning Britain_ put out a request for pet owners who were resisting vaccination. “Potential side effects of vaccines are rare & outweighed by the benefits in protecting against disease.” > [](https://twitter.com/BritishVets/status/988820757215145984) The next day, the organization tweeted that, “Scaremongering can lead to knee-jerk reactions resulting in outbreaks of disease #VaccinesWork.” > [](https://twitter.com/BritishVets/status/989179914782945282) Dogs are vaccinated against a range of diseases, including distemper, hepatitis and rabies. Vaccinating against these conditions often protects both animals and humans, since dogs can transmit certain illnesses, including rabies, to people. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5258627/dogs-vaccination-autism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5258627/dogs-vaccination-autism/"},"headline":"Veterinary Group: Dogs Can't Get Autism, So Please Keep Vaccinating Them","datePublished":"2018-04-28T14:23:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:07:06.534Z","description":"There's a troubling trend among pet owners","url":"https://time.com/5258627/dogs-vaccination-autism/","keywords":["Autism","onetime","healthytime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e9d6b108e35bc54/69892f0386f68e7d236e907b/dog-vet-vaccines.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e9d6b108e35bc54/69892f0386f68e7d236e907b/dog-vet-vaccines.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"At the veterinarian","caption":"At the veterinarian","creditText":"vadimguzhva—Getty Images/iStockphoto","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/autism/","name":"Autism"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5258627/dogs-vaccination-autism/","name":"Veterinary Group: Dogs Can't Get Autism, So Please Keep Vaccinating Them"}}]}] ```