More than seven million pets at risk of suffering and disease through lack of vaccination, the latest PAW Report found.

The 2019 PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report, found the number of pets receiving their primary vaccinations when young – which protect pets from deadly diseases and viruses – has dropped dramatically from 84% in 2016 to 66% in 2019, an 18 percentage point decrease in just three years.

Of those pet owners who hadn’t vaccinated their pet, 17% said that they deemed it ‘too expensive’, an additional 17% said their pet didn’t come into contact with other animals. Other explanations included 16% who felt it was ‘unnecessary’, while other pet owners (13%) said that their ‘pet found going to the vets very stressful’.

PDSA senior vet, Sean Wensley, said: “It’s extremely worrying to see such a decline in the number of young pets receiving their primary vaccinations.

“Vaccinations have helped to protect millions of pets from serious diseases such as parvovirus, cat flu and Rabbit Viral Haemorrhagic Disease. If people don’t vaccinate, we risk seeing a rise in extremely unpleasant, preventable, diseases that can cause considerable animal suffering and death.”