A new YouGov survey on pets and vaccination finds that majorities of Americans — including majorities of Democrats and Republicans — believe that vaccinations for dogs and cats are safe. Self-identified MAGA Republicans are more likely than non-MAGA Republicans to hold negative views of vaccines, including their safety.
Three-quarters (74%) of Americans believe vaccines for dogs and cats are generally very or somewhat safe. A similar share of Americans believe that vaccines in general are very or somewhat safe (79%).
Among self-identified MAGA Republicans, 30% believe vaccines in general are not very or not at all safe. Only 12% say the same about vaccines for cats and dogs. Among non-MAGA Republicans — Republicans who say they do not identify as MAGA Republicans — 23% say vaccines in general are not safe, and 6% say they are not safe for dogs and cats.
A majority (69%) of Americans say the statement “the benefits outweigh the risks” comes closer to their view on vaccinating dogs and cats than "the risks outweigh the benefits." About as many (68%) say the same about vaccinations in general.
Among Democrats, 80% say the benefits outweigh the risks for vaccinating cats and dogs, and 84% say this about vaccines in general. Among Republicans, 61% say the benefits outweigh the risks for vaccinating cats and dogs, and 52% say this about vaccines in general.
More MAGA Republicans say the benefits outweigh the risks for vaccinating cats and dogs (56%) than say this about vaccines in general (44%). Among non-MAGA Republicans 71% say this about vaccines for cats and dogs and 63% about vaccines in general.
About half (53%) of Americans think dogs should be required to receive recommended vaccines; 34% say the decision to vaccinate dogs should be left up to their owners. MAGA Republicans are more likely than non-MAGA Republicans to say the decision should be left up to owners (54% vs. 35%). More Republicans than Democrats say the decision should be left up to the owner (47% vs. 20%).
Similarly, about half (49%) of Americans think cats should be required to receive recommended vaccines and 36% think it should be left up to the owners. 53% of MAGA Republicans, 38% of non-MAGA Republicans, 48% of all Republicans, and 21% of Democrats think the decision should be left up to owners.
Americans are more likely to say that children should be required to receive recommended vaccines than to say the decision should be left to parents (56% vs. 37%). 57% of Republicans — including a majority (63%) of MAGA Republicans and 50% of non-MAGA Republicans say the decision to vaccinate children should be left up to their parents. 16% of Democrats agree.
Among Americans who have a dog, 64% say they always keep their dogs up to date in receiving recommended vaccines and 30% say they have delayed or skipped some vaccines. Only 6% say they do not get their dogs any vaccines.
Among dog owners who have delayed, skipped, or decided not to give their dog vaccines, 17% say one reason for doing so was the cost or lack of insurance coverage. Less dog owners who have foregone vaccines for their pets point to reasons such as concern about safety or side effects (11%), not thinking the vaccines are necessary (10%), or forgetting or not knowing that vaccines were needed (8%).
About half (47%) of cat owners say they always keep their cat up to date in receiving recommended vaccines. Less say they have delayed or skipped some vaccines (38%) or do not get their cats any vaccines (16%).
Among cat owners who have delayed, skipped, or opted not to give their cats vaccines, 29% say one reason is the cost or lack of insurance coverage. 16% say one reason is they don’t think vaccines are necessary for cats, 14% say they forgot or didn’t know their cats needed vaccines, and 11% have concerns about safety or side effects.
One in five Americans (19%) — including 11% of Democrats, 29% of all Republicans, 34% of MAGA Republicans, and 20% of non-MAGA Republicans — believe some vaccines can cause dogs and cats to develop cognitive issues.
Americans are about twice as likely (37%) to say vaccines cannot cause dogs and cats to develop cognitive issues; 44% are not sure.
About one-third (32%) of Americans believe vaccines can cause children to develop cognitive issues. Among MAGA Republicans, 67% believe some vaccines can cause children to develop cognitive issues.
Related:
- What Americans think of childhood vaccinations
- 70% of Americans say it’s likely the U.S. will have a widespread outbreak of a new infectious disease in the next decade
- What Americans think of RFK Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again agenda
See the results for this YouGov survey
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted on September 5 - 8, 2025 among 1,114 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty (owngarden)
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