It is Earth Day again and what have we done?

It seems to be getting scarier each day. I hear mom talk about it a lot and write about it. Climate Crisis, toxins, pollution, etc.

So I thought I’d see what that means for us pets.

Not good guys.

As far as pollution and toxins, that means poisons that make you sick or even die, we are more vulnerable to them than adult humans. Sure the little toddles have it bad like us but come on!

We are more susceptible, I think that’s the right word, because diseases develop faster in pets like cancer. Also, our behavior puts us at greater risk such as living close to the ground, ingesting dust, chewing on domestic objects, licking and self-grooming, similar to the behavior of human toddlers.

. So everything that makes us so cute puts us in danger.

These are poisons people are putting out there in our environment!

The Environmental Working Group did a study on the effects of toxins in the environment on us pets. No one had looked at our risk before.

They found we are exposed to scores of human-produced chemicals “by inhaling indoor air with contaminated dust, strolling in industrial urban neighborhoods, drinking tap water full of disinfection byproducts, eating factory-made pet food laden with numerous chemicals, and contacting a variety of house and garden products, from herbicides to flame retardants. As a result of these multiple exposures, pet cats have 23 times higher levels of brominated flame retardants (polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs) in their serum compared to humans, while dogs are contaminated with perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) at levels 2.4 times higher than typical amounts found in people. The EWG investigation detected 48 of 70 (68%) different chemicals that were tested in cats and dogs. “

I can’t pronounce those weird chemicals but it sounds bad.

What the….? Who’s in charge? How could they let this happen? I’m freaking.

Here’s what they got:

Mesothelioma in dogs and exposure to asbestos.

Bladder cancers in dogs and local industrial activity. (Dogs living in chemically polluted areas.)

Bladder cancers in dogs and the use of insecticides and herbicides. (Topical flea and tick treatments, dips, yard and garden treatments)

Canine malignant lymphoma and yard herbicide application. (“2,4-D herbicide remains a potential health hazard for pets and for children, who share similar exposures to environmental sources that can be contaminated with this insecticide such as soil, outdoor air, indoor air, and carpet dust (Morgan 2008)”)

Oral squamous cell carcinoma in cats and the use of flea control products. And household tobacco smoke.

High levels of brominated flame retardants (polybrominated biphenyls or PBDEs) in cats. (It may come from dietary sources like canned food. Also, cats likely ingest 7-fold more dust than adult humans (Dye 2007), and household dust is laden with flame retardant chemicals (Stapleton 2005) It could be linked to hyperthyroidism, a feline disease that has increased dramatically since 1980s (Peterson 2007). Other studies have found a connection of this disease with consumption of canned cat food. The Environmental Protection Agency found a rise in feline hyperthyroidism has coincided with the widespread introduction of brominated flame-retardants into household materials.

Lead toxicosis in dogs and cats.

Historically, small children and pet animals pick up the same sources of lead exposure such as peeling old lead paint or proximity to traffic

Teflon toxicosis or “polymer fume fever” in birds.

Chemical contamination of pet food.

Due to insufficient government oversight over chemicals present in pet food, are left to trust that the pet food industry will regulate itself.

Is it the government in charge? Let’s get ’em!

These are just some of the things they found and that is just what has been studied so far.

There’s more. With Climate Crisis caused by, you guessed it, human-produced pollution we pets are looking at even more problems. And again, we are at greater risk than human adults.

People are predicting:

-Longer flea and tick season, even year ’round in some places.

-Expanding ranges of diseases like Lyme disease and heart worm.

-With severe weather becoming more frequent 9hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, etc)and more severe more and more of us will be lost and lose our homes and be alone! People leave us pets behind when they evacuate or we get separated after the storm if we lose our homes.

-The incidence of heatstroke in dogs will greatly increase.

-Moe risk of smoke inhalation from more wildfires.

-More people moving to escape sea level rise or heat abandoning their pets.

-It could cause a longer feline reproductive season causing a seasonal explosion in kitten populations in some areas.

MORE cats??!!!!!

AAAHHH!!!!

OK that’s it. Something has to be done.

Now tell me, doesn’t that look really bad?

Mom says there are some people trying to fix it.

Forgotten Nations is sponsoring a talk this Tuesday, April 23, for Earth Day to make a clean environment a human right. There is even an article about Nature having rights to a clean environment. Forget the humans and Nature, we need Pets Rights!

We dogs…and cats… need to get out there and march. That’s what mom says. It is really a walk but with a whole bunch of other dogs and not in your neighborhood. Sounds like fun.

I don’t see why people don’t do it every day.

So here is the plan Paws for Planet Earth will have a march.

Tell your people you are taking them for a walk, they won’t know the difference and we will march, Well go for a walk in front of some government building and tell those people to knock it off and we want our Pets Rights!

People are not doing a very good job so the smarter species must take over.

Get involved. Get your people involved.

The Earth is in our paws…

…and mouth.