3-4 years ago one of these unvaccinated dogs bit a little kid in my area and the dog had symptoms of rabies so they started the painful shots on the kid and sent the dog to the local vet who put it down and chopped off it's head and sent the head to the state lab for testing.
Here in south Texas, dogs have to be vaccinated every year against rabies due to the fact that rabies is endemic among many mammal populations here. My dogs' veterinarian says other states allow the same vaccines to be renewed every 3 years. The reputable dog groomers will not work on any dog that lacks current vaccination records, and they only accept copies of documents from the veterinarian's office as proof of vaccination. They don't accept the metal tag attached to the collar.
Ha! Dog groomers, that’s pretty funny!
Out here in deeply rural Alabama, not only do most dogs not get groomed, many never had a bath in their life unless they were swimming in the creek or something.
In the sticks, lots of folks have dogs that they never let in the house, are chained to the dog house so they don’t run away, and are never taken to the vet. The attitude is, that’s my dog, but if he dies, I’ll just get another one.
Some folks, like trailhkr1 said, don’t even chained up their dogs, but just let them wander where they will. They might not really have “owners”, but just show up at the house where the humans that feed them live, in order to eat what they can’t catch.
Still, I don’t mind. I like living in the country, and any dog wandering in my property gets chased out by my dogs, me, or if they won’t shoo and cause problems, will get double-ought.