Can Dogs Catch The COVID-19 Delta Variant?

Disclaimer: Joyride Harness and Joyride Harness employees are not health experts. The information you read here is a curation of updates from trusted resources such as the CDC and World Organization for Animal Health. This information is shared out of the interest of dog health and the care of our forever friends.

We’re not out of the dog park yet, but with the current spread of COVID-19 Delta Variant, should you and your dog even be at the dog park? 

There’s a lot of growing concern over the rise of cases as reports of variants -- the most noted being Delta -- sweeps the United States. But why is it even spreading at all? What’s happening? 

According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Vaccines are playing a crucial role in limiting spread of the virus and minimizing severe disease. Although vaccines are highly effective, they are not perfect, and there will be vaccine breakthrough infections. Millions of Americans are vaccinated, and that number is growing. This means that even though the risk of breakthrough infections is low, there will be thousands of fully vaccinated people who become infected and able to infect others, especially with the surging spread of the Delta variant. Low vaccination coverage in many communities is driving the current rapid surge in cases involving the Delta variant, which also increases the chances that even more concerning variants could emerge.”

Can dogs even get COVID-19?

We know and understand. We're just as tired of COVID-19 and the constant updates from the CDC, but a long as it's alive and well in the United States, keeping informed about the coronavirus and the spread of COVID-19 is important. For one, you have the safety of the nation (and even on a global scare) to think of, and then you have the safety of you and your family to consider.

That includes your pets too.

So what about the Delta Variant? Can dogs catch the Delta Variant?

It’s important to understand the sequence of information we know and receive.

• In March 2020, at the very start of the pandemic, we shared an informational blog post covering the subject as we all were keeping save in quarantine at home. 
• In that blog post, we explained, "According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “While there has been one instance of a dog being infected in Hong Kong, to date, there is no evidence that a dog, cat or any pet can transmit COVID-19. COVID-19 is mainly spread through droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or speaks. To protect yourself, clean your hands frequently and thoroughly. WHO continues to monitor the latest research on this and other COVID-19 topics and will update as new findings are available.”
• Since then, a few more cases of pets contracting the coronavirus have been shared, although it's explained to be a different strain of the virus. It's important to remember that COVID-19 is a variant of other coronaviruses known.

As the World Organization for Animal Health stated in their COVID-19 website Q&A, "COVID-19 is the disease caused by a coronavirus (CoV) named SARS-CoV-2. They are called coronaviruses because of their characteristic ‘corona’ (crown) of spike proteins which surround their lipid envelope. Coronavirus infections are common in both animals and humans, and some strains of coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they can be transmitted between animals and humans."

How should we handle this?

Although WOAH's information being referenced by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on their website updates, the CDC's recommended pet precautions includes the following*.

• It appears that the virus that causes COVID-19 can spread from people to animals in some situations.
• Treat pets as you would other human family members – do not let pets interact with people outside the household.
• If a person inside the household becomes sick, isolate that person from everyone else, including pets.

The Reality of COVID-19 & Our Pets

Because of the rising cases and deaths from the virus, focus is more than likely going to remain on controlling the spread among human populations making research for the spread of the virus among dogs slim.

We will do our best to continue reporting on this.

This is just a sampling of tips and informational posts we offer at Joyride Harness. You can find more content including tips and tricks and how-tos for caring for your dog on our blog in this section.