Should I Be Worried About My Dog Getting Coronavirus?

DISCLAIMER: What you’re about to read is based off of various reports found online from government and non-government sources. Joyride Harness is not a professional source but is reporting to give insight for your interpretation and discretion of activities as we navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the coronavirus outbreak first started, fur baby parents were extremely concerned about their cats, dogs, etc. contracting the virus. The first known report of a dog contracting the virus was an occurrence in China, and since then, the dog, unfortunately, passed away. But here’s what we know about that case:

• In February, the pomeranian belonging to an elderly woman who tested positive for the virus was tested as a “weak-positive” for contracting the virus.
• The dog was quarantined for 14 days after detecting the low levels of the coronavirus from nasal samples and oral samples.
• Five more samples were collected to further test and detect the levels of coronavirus carried by the dog. 
• On March 12th, it was determined the dog did not have the coronavirus. 
• “The negative result indicates that there is not a strong immune response and that there are not measurable amounts of antibodies in the blood at this stage,” the department said.” (via MarketWatch)
• The pomeranian passed away two days after being released.
• It was determined that based on the negative result, the pomeranian more than likely passed due to health complications incurred from separation anxiety from their owner and the new and unfamiliar environment presented by being quarantined.

A month has passed and now more (yet very few) reports are surfacing of animals contracting the coronavirus. Here’s what the World Organization for Animal Health had to say about the subject in their consolidated report on the coronavirus:

Based on this information, it’s understood the chances of your dog contracting COVID-19 is very low. Can it happen? It seems to be the case, but again...the chances are slim as the continued steady reports of the virus show that COVID-19 is a human-to-human transmitted occurrence. These rare cases seem to be abnormal mutations that are not common to the virus. 

As a company dedicated to the well-being of our fur babies, we’ll do our best to continue with reports on the virus as new information is released. 

If you’d like more information on caring for your dogs during the coronavirus pandemic, you can take a look at this blog post. Please note it was written at the start of the pandemic so the information you find here regarding the dog reported to have the disease has since been updated. 

Take care and hug your dog!