Pet talk

A couple of weeks ago there was a letter to the editor published in the Monroe Evening News.  It was written by a young teen girl and it concerned the slaughter of horses.  It was very well written, and it generated at least another letter taking the same stance a week or so later.  My husband brought the letters to my attention and suggested the topic for a blog.

At first, I was hesitant to write a blog on such a hot topic–especially since my views are radically different.  But after thinking about it for a while and arranging my thoughts in a reasonable order, I decided to put in my two cents on the subject.

Both of the letters published were adamantly against the slaughter of horses for meat.  Yet neither letter said anything about the innocent slaughter of millions of pigs, chickens, cows, sheep and goats every year around the world.  I would like to suggest the reason why:  horses are pretty, and every girl wants one– pigs are ugly and everybody loves an Easter ham.  In my opinion, you either are against animal slaughter for all animals, or you accept that humans are meat eaters and they will always eat animal flesh.  

If you are ready to give up all animal products, meaning no meat, Jell-O, clothes, fur, some medicines (including insulin, heparin and vaccines) all surgical procedures, soaps, mechanical grease, doughnuts, French fries, (things that use lard), and many, many more items that come from animals, I say all the power to you.  I wish I had the will power to give up all those things in my life.  If you are not ready to give up any one of the things we get from animals then the animal MUST NOT DIE IN VAIN.  Either we vow not to kill animals for our use, or we kill them wisely, and use up every single once of their carcass.  Why just kill a cow and use the steaks?  If the animal is dead, we have an obligation to use the rest of the animal up ensuring that the animals death was for a real purpose.  

So why kill horses?  Well, people eat them.  Not me mind you, nor probably you, but people do eat them.  People in other countries eat bugs, snakes, and even dogs and cats.  Did you know that the Chinese government has dog farms where St. Bernard type dogs are raised solely for their meat? Did you know that all the road kill and pets from the municipal pounds were rendered to make soaps and grease?   If we don’t slaughter horses what are we going to do with the hundreds of thousands of animals that are too old, too lame, or too wild to keep as pets?  Euthanize them and put them in the ground to contaminate the ground water?  Why waste an animals life just to pollute the Earth?  If we can use the animal to feed other humans or pets, why would you chose to waste the life?

Now don’t get me wrong.  I am very much for the improvement of the way animals are slaughtered.  The methods are often crude, and cruel.  And the way animals are raised, bred, fed, and transported to the slaughter house all need to be regulated to produce a happy, healthy animal.  The slaughter of horses is unusually inhumane in that horses often get painfully injured during the process.  This needs to change and I was a part of that change for a long time.  It has come a long way, but we still have a long way to go in convincing people that ALL animals experience pain and fear.  Once that debate is over, we need to move on to developing humane slaughter methods for all species and all religious codes.  (I am talking about kosher and halal killing)  After that, we need strong, and well supported policing of the laws to ensure that the methods are followed to the letter.  Only then will I be comfortable knowing that the animal we killed will be fully utilized and lived a happy, productive life until its time came to an end.      

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Inbox

This week 3 very lucky mountain climbers were rescued after a 500 foot fall.  The fall separated them from the group they were climbing with–but unfortunately the dog accompanying the group fell as well.  The unlucky climbers were smart in that they brought along a rentable tracking device which rescuers used to locate them.  They also used the dog as a source of warmth while they waited under a tarp for help.  The temperatures dipped dangerously low, and the winds whipped up to 50 mph.  

One climber had a small head wound, and the rest of the humans were unhurt.  Unfortunately, the dog suffered frostbite and cuts on its paws, but was expected to fully recover as well.

Many credit the dog with saving the climbers by keeping them warm during their wait.  And that credit is probably due.  But please do not take dogs into dangerous situations like this hoping that they will save you in a similar fashion.  Any time a sport requires picks, ropes, steep climbs and basically thumbs to accomplish, a dog should not be involved.  They may want to come with you, but they are much safer at home waiting to greet you when you walk through that door.  

And if you are too busy to pick up after them they are not welcome on city sidewalks, parks, or playgrounds either.  Don’t leave them in hot cars, and if they are at all shy, they need obedience training before being brought out into public at all.  Why risk your animals life when it may bite someone out of fear?  My advise:  Leave your pet at home unless it is a well adjusted, trained animal that you are able to care for and pick up after, at all times.    

My husband and I LOVE Boxers.  We started out with a male that I found at the county landfill.  He came right to me, jumped in the truck and after several weeks of looking for his owners, he became mine.  (I actually think he escaped from the county dog pound which was near the land fill.  He was quite good at climbing 6 foot chain link and that was all the pound had to keep the dogs in).

After several years, Logan the Boxer got cancer and it was apparent that he did not have long to live.  Knowing that his passing would put a huge hole in our hearts, we decided to get another Boxer.  The new boxer would hopefully keep Logan company and maybe learn how to be a member of our family by watching a perfect gentleman–Logan.  

So my husband got on the internet and started looking at Boxer rescue groups hoping to find a match.  The first group we found was one located in the mid-Michigan area.  They specialized in Boxers and had several dogs that were up for adoption.  After filling out all the paperwork and submitting it, we were told that we were not suitable to adopt any dogs from them.  The reason?  We both worked full time and the dog would be lonely without us.

This decision was made after disclosing several things about our little family.  First, the new Boxer would have Logan for company while we were working.  Secondly, we constructed a heated and air conditioned kennel that allowed the dogs to go outside whenever they needed to during the day while we were working.  Thirdly, because we both worked, we could afford MRI’s for Logan’s cancer diagnosis, expensive surgery, yearly routine veterinary care, and a pet sitter to come into our home several times a day to care for Logan when we went away.  (Boarding kennels just are not an option for us).  Working made even buying dog food, treats, bedding, and toys something that no one had to ever think twice about.  And lastly, I am a veterinarian.  They would not allow a veterinarian to adopt one of their dogs because I worked 8 hours a day–as a VETERINARIAN.  How absurd.

Needless to say we quickly did another Google search and came up with another Boxer rescue group in Ohio.  It is called Heart of Ohio Boxer Rescue.  What wonderful people!  They had a 2 year old, abused, and neglected female who just so happened to need a home.  They invited us to a Boxer party (in which 20 Boxers ran around playing with each other while the humans had a pot luck).  We were introduced to the little girl who later came home with us.  She was renamed Kia and has been a joy to live with ever since.

I guess the point of the story is this:  Some people are nuts.  Others are good hearted people who are actually out there helping animals.  I hope you never have to deal with the former, and have great experiences with the latter.    

This weeks issue of Happy News (happynews.com) had an amazing story of a little girl, a dog, and some pet turtles.  The little girl lives in Florida and wanted to bring in the pet turtles from the back yard due to an impending cold snap.  She brings in the turtles and puts them in the bath tub while getting the indoor tank ready.

After coming back to get the turtles, she took a head count and realized that one of the turtles was missing.  Immediately, she put two and two together and figured out that her dog had eaten one.  Ten minutes later, after getting instruction over the phone on how to make the dog vomit, up comes the turtle.  And the turtle was still alive!

The dog, being a dog, did not chew his food much and the turtle only had a cracked shell.  But other than that, it survived being inside the the dogs stomach for a pretty long time.  The cracked shell was repaired and the turtle, dog and girl are reportedly doing well.

I am impressed by the actions of the little girl.  How calm and rational was that?  A lot of adults could not behave in such a responsible and mature manner.  Thank goodness dogs do not chew their food well–and that turtle can thank its lucky stars that turtles are good at holding their breath!

Last week the Monroe News had a front page story of a dog who ate a diamond ring.  That story got me to thinking about all the things I have pulled out of animals in my career.
Cattle routinely eat foreign objects and veterinarians actually put magnets into their stomachs to hopefully keep the metal ones from going through nearby organs.  Nails, screws, wire, rope, and plastic end up getting swallowed because cattle really don’t chew their food.  They sweep it up into their mouths with their very long tongues and chomp down on it just enough to get it wet enough to swallow.  The main chewing is done after it is swallowed and separated into small clumps called “cud”.  This is brought back up and chewed–but the heavy metal objects stay in the first chamber of the stomach closest to the heart.  So when a magnet is placed in the back of their throat, they swallow it and it collects all the other metal pieces together keeping them from piercing through the stomach and travelling to the heart.  At slaughter, reports have listed batteries, tools, clothing, jewelry, rocks, and of course plastic in the stomachs of otherwise normal animals.
 
Dogs are great at swallowing things.  Most things pass uneventfully, but some things get stuck and have to be removed surgically.  Coins are common and in the rural Amish area I practiced in, feeding pennies to your dog was a way to get rid of worms.  I am sure the thought was that copper metal killed worms, (and some types of copper in certain doses does kill some parasites), but really mostly what happens is the dog poops out money.  

I once found GI Joe’s leg in the stomach of a young lab, and lots of bones have been found in dogs throughout my career.  Bones splinter and usually make it past the stomach only to cut through the intestine somewhere after most of the water is absorbed and the feces start scraping the intestinal walls.  Sometimes a bone will make it all the way to the rectum, only to be stuck at that end.  If the bone makes it that far, your dog is lucky and usually a glove and some KY jelly is all that is needed to unstick it.  This is only after the dog usually suffers a few days of licking “back there”, cries when defecating, or just doesn’t go at all.
 
I actually pulled out a threaded needle from a cats rectum once.  I watched the owners eyes get real big as I pulled on the “worm” she saw sticking out of her cats butt.  It was a long thread attached to a darning needle–which prompted the owner to remember the cat playing with her sewing kit the week before.  Her cat was so lucky.  Generally what happens is that the long thread winds itself around the base of the tongue, (or the needle gets caught in the mouth), and then the other end passes along the GI tract until it stretches out.  Then the thread acts like a knife and slowly cuts through the intestine as it contracts moving the food along.  This is a very painful condition for the cat, and very difficult to diagnose without a good history and lots of x-rays.

Plastic may or may not pass depending on how much is eaten, and what ate it.  Big cats in zoos are so bored that they eat anything that is thrown into their enclosures.  Gloves are a common cause of death in captive lions and tigers.  But goats really do not eat all that garbage.  That is a myth.  They will eat the paper off of a tin can, but are much more picky than cattle and rarely eat anything that is not food.  Sheep, goats, deer, and cows all do not even have upper front teeth and can’t really take a bite out of anything.