Scratchings-and-Sniffings

Posted by Animals at 6:18 PM Saturday, August 15, 2009

Scratchings-and-Sniffings

Secondhand Smoke Kills Pets, too

Posted: 14 Aug 2009 09:19 AM PDT

Pandora I get a great newsletter called Spot Speaks by Nancy Kay DVM (I wrote about her book on this blog, awhile ago). This week's edition of her newsletter talks about secondhand smoke and its effects on our pets. The Tobacco Control Journal has a report online that details the harm this does to our pets. Dr. Kay discusses this a bit.

She reports in this issue of Spot Speaks that "resecrachers conducted an online survey of 3,293 adults who lived with pets. Approximately 21 percent were smokers and 27 percent lived with a smoker. When informed of the dangers of secondhand smoke to their pets, a percentage of respondents indicated that not only would they try to quit, they would try to convince other smokers in the household to quit smoking indoors or quit smoking altogether."

This isn't news - I believe it was reported some time ago, but it's worth sharing because it never hurts to remind people that smoking cigarettes kills. It kills more than the smoker. It kills the people and pets around the smoker, too.

I am very allergic to smoke and last week when I was shoping at a large antique mall, I passed the booth of an elderly gentleman who was tinkering with something and the overwhelming stench of cigarette smoke came out into the walkway, giving me a headache, almost immediately. And he was just working there - not smoking! The odor was from his clothes!I-love-my-pets

I've had friends who smoked. Back when I was younger, it was something we just tolerated. Today, I would not go into a house where a smoker lived. And, I would never allow my pets around smokers.

Dr. Kay is interested in your take on this issue. Would you consider kicking the habit, if you already smoke - knowing you are putting your dog or cat in serious danger? Would you insist your live-in relative (whether a spouse or a child or whomever) quit smoking...knowing how secondhand smoke is damaging the health of your pets?

I would. But then, I wouldn't associate with a smoker. I am not afraid to say that if you smoke, I cannot consider you a friend. Put the cigarettes down. Not just for me, or the pets, for yourself, too. And yes, to be honest, I tried smoking once or twice. It's a nasty habit - I never took to it and today I'm so glad of that.

Let's keep our pets healthy by keeping the air they breathe smoke free.

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