Heartworm is hardly a rare problem! It affects the dogs lungs and heart and can kill a dog if not treated or prevented.
I didn’t say it wasn’t harmful, even deadly.
I decided to adopt the dog with heartworms after all, knowing that she might not survive and that I might have to put her down if the suffering gets to be too much.
But when you look at the number of reported cases, and account for those that go unreported, it’s comparatively small.