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There's currently no reliable scientific evidence to indicate autism in dogs (or its link to vaccines). Potential side effects of vaccines are rare & outweighed by the benefits in protecting against disease. BVA would be happy to provide evidence-based information on the issue — BVA (@BritishVets) April 24, 2018

Weese agrees that the rare possibility of an adverse reaction trumps the risk of dogs catching a preventable disease like canine parvovirus or canine distemper.

Weese said that “nasty diseases we haven’t seen in a while” in Canada like parvovirus are starting to make a come back because of pet owners aren’t vaccinating regularly. Some side effects of canine parvovirus include bloody diarrhea, vomiting and sometimes death.

A Tufts University study from 2014 suggests some bull terriers exhibit behaviour similar to autism due to their compulsive habits like tail chasing, aggression and phobias — similar to how some autistic children flap their arms or spin in circles. Dr. Nicholas Dodman, a veterinary behaviourist at Tufts, was one of the study’s authors.

“I would say, in general because some of these dogs are socially withdrawn, which is another sign of autism, they could have something. They also spin, which autistic children do,” said Dodman. “I would say, I think that the bull terrier might be a model for a canine form of autism in that specific breed alone.”

However, Dodman doesn’t want his study to be taken out of context. He stresses that vaccines do not cause autism in bull terriers, any other dogs or humans. He also said that his study only examines the behaviour of some dogs of one particular breed, not all dogs.

Dodman and his team are still undertaking further research on bull terriers to see what roles genes play.