DEAR DR. FOX: I appreciate reading in your columns about ways we can all reduce our carbon footprints and slow down climate change, such as by eating less meat, becoming vegetarian and traveling less, especially by air. Another reason to travel less on airplanes: I heard on the news that there are 18,000 annual bird strikes by airline traffic and about 4% must make emergency landings. -- B.K., Washington, D.C.

DEAR B.K.: Thank you for sharing this disturbing information. People with disposable income who want to travel for pleasure -- regardless of the risks to bird life and the contribution of air traffic to climate change -- might consider expeditions with Earthwatch, a nonprofit organization that pairs researchers with volunteers to address some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. For details, visit: earthwatch.org/expeditions.

Airline cargo traffic is also on the rise as companies like Amazon ship consumables across the country. As consumers order things online, they unwittingly add to the bird death toll, as well as to the demise of local shops in our communities.

Consumption was an old name for tuberculosis, but in these times, it has a new meaning: Consumption now refers to the addictive disease of consumerism!

ANOTHER ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER CAUSING HEALTH PROBLEMS

Xylitol is a widely used artificial sweetener found in candy, gum, prepared foods and beverages, even toothpaste. Now, a new study published in the European Heart Journal found that people with higher levels of xylitol in their blood had nearly double the risk of heart attack, stroke or death within three years compared to those with lower levels. The study’s senior author, Dr. Stanley Hazen, says that high xylitol levels can increase platelet reactivity, which can lead to blood clots -- a major cause of heart attack and stroke.

Xylitol is extremely toxic to dogs: Even small amounts can cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), seizures, liver failure or even death. In humans, xylitol does not stimulate the release of insulin from the pancreas, but when dogs consume it, it is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. This results in a potent insulin release, causing a profound drop in blood sugar. If untreated, hypoglycemia can be life-threatening.

DEAR DR. FOX: I was reading your recent column regarding invisible fences. We had an invisible fence for 12 years for our cockapoo. We went through the proper training for the fence, and she was never outside by herself. We used to laugh that she would go lie down about 5 feet from the fence when other animals (deer, rabbits, etc.) were in sight.

In all those years, she maybe got shocked three times. That was way fewer times than I was shocked (from carrying her collar and not thinking about it). At age 14, she died of thyroid cancer. -- M.J.H., Skagit Valley, Washington

DEAR M.J.H.: Thanks for your communication regarding your dog learning to stay inside your property when you set up an invisible fence. Her closeness to this fence and wearing the shock collar could have been a factor in her developing thyroid cancer, since she would have been exposed to nonionizing radiation. The jury is still out on a definitive causality, but the American Cancer Society has some data indicating the risks of such exposure in humans and the development of leukemia and other cancers. For details, see: cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/radiation-exposure/extremely-low-frequency-radiation.

In my opinion, we need to be more mindful of our own exposure, and that of our companion animals, to various sources of such radiation, which is considered a significant risk to insects and other wildlife. I discuss the issue further in this post on my website: drfoxonehealth.com/post/electropollution-existential-threat-to-public-health-and-life-on-earth.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: I wish I could include more uplifting material in my newspaper column. I read so much about animal cruelty and wanton killing every week, and I never post most of it. But I feel some of this needs to be shared because it parallels the sociopathic and psychopathic behavior of many in society today. The increasing violence in schools and deaths from drug overdoses are symptomatic of a dystopian society.

These trends call for more schools to include humane education and ethics in their curricula. Simply putting up plaques of the Ten Commandments will not suffice. At least display the declaration that nearly all religious traditions include: Live by the Golden Rule. That means treating all sentient beings as we would have them treat us.

A SICKENING ANIMAL CRUELTY PROSECUTION

Please see the following news release from In Defense of Animals, posted on June 20 at idausa.org:

"In Defense of Animals applauds the sentencing of Nicole Devilbiss, who was charged with conspiring to create and share 'crush videos' depicting monkeys being tortured and killed. On June 18, U.S. District Judge Wendy Berger sentenced Devilbiss to serve four years and three months in federal prison of the five-year possible sentence.

"In Defense of Animals sent (Florida) State Attorney Roger B. Handberg a letter with 13,593 signatures seeking maximum sentencing for Devilbiss.

"A tip from an informant led to a multi-agency investigation that uncovered Devilbiss as the administrator of a Telegram group that was sharing thousands of messages and funding videos depicting the abuse and torture of monkeys. ...

"Crush videos, or crush porn, depict animals being tortured, mutilated and killed for the sexual gratification and sadistic satisfaction of viewers. The creation, sale and distribution of these videos was banned in 2010 under the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act, which was strengthened in 2019 by the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, which made involvement a federal crime."

TIME TO END WILDLIFE-KILLING CONTESTS

The June 22 Star Tribune article "Quest for gopher feet binds community," by Trey Mewes, details a “treasured local event” in which "Viola Township, like many communities across Minnesota, pays a bounty for pairs of gopher feet." In other states, there are "rattlesnake rodeo" roundups, prairie dog and rabbit roundups and clubbings, as well as coyote-killing contests.

Each year, thousands of native carnivores and other wildlife -- including coyotes, foxes, bobcats, raccoons, rabbits, prairie dogs, mountain lions and wolves -- are killed during these cruel, senseless competitions. To make such competitive killings a public festival is a sad reflection of a cultural tradition that has no place in a humane, civil society where there is respect for all life. It is evident that rural attitudes toward indigenous species are lacking in respect and understanding of wildlife and their valuable ecological services.

The Prohibit Wildlife Killing Contests Act of 2024 (H.R. 8492) was introduced in May by Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee and 16 cosponsors. The bill would require the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service to enact regulations banning wildlife killing contests, within one year of the law's enactment, on 500 million acres of public lands.

Contact your members of Congress to urge them to support H.R. 8492.

DEAR DR. FOX: A friend sent me an account she'd seen online: To summarize, a bird flew into a window and died, and its mate hopped over to lie down beside it. It sounded very sad and beautiful -- an example of animals feeling emotion. This is what you have been writing about in your column over the years, about how sentient animals are. -- K.F., Minneapolis

DEAR K.F.: Thank you for alerting me to this touching story. I recall receiving a letter some years ago from a horse owner who saw one of her old horses collapse and die in the paddock. A companion horse trotted over, examined the dead horse, then keeled over and died.

This is evidence of the strong bond animals can develop; when it is broken, they can die from a broken heart. This broken heart syndrome, also known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy, is recognized in humans and is now being documented in animals. The stress of capture or predation can cause a heart attack in a variety of wild animals.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: Please see this June 11 abstract from Nature.com:

"Elephants seem to use proper names to address their fellows -- a habit that appears to otherwise be unique to humans. Scientists used machine learning to analyze 469 deep rumbles made by wild female African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) and their families in Kenya. They found patterns that indicate that calls are specific to individuals. The researchers also played recorded calls to elephants out in the field and watched how the animals responded. 'They could tell if a call was addressed to them just by hearing that call,' says behavioral ecologist and study co-author Michael Pardo." (For details, read the study “African elephants address one another with individually specific name-like calls” by Michael Pardo, et al., published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, June 2024.)

This research raises the ethical and legal issue of animal personhood, and should serve as another step toward human recognition of animal sentience and our responsibilities for our fellow creatures.

TIME TO STOP KAPPAROT RITUAL POULTRY “SACRIFICE”

Here is an important post from We Animals Media about a ritual practiced by some sects of Orthodox Jews before Yom Kippur. All should be concerned about such mistreatment of animals. Full story available here: weanimalsmedia.org/2023/09/22/documenting-kaporos-chicken-slaughter-in-new-york.

"Traditionally, during Kaporos (aka Kapparot), a live chicken is swung over the head of a practitioner three times while a prayer is recited and the sins of the practitioner are symbolically transferred to the chicken. On the eve of Yom Kippur, the chickens are handed to a shochet (a person certified to kill animals in accordance with shechita law) to be killed and the meat donated to the poor -- or eaten at the pre-Yom Kippur meal.

"In the week leading up to Yom Kippur, the streets of Brooklyn, New York, become one of the largest wet markets in the United States, with an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 chickens being used in the Kapparot ritual and then killed. Those opposed to the practice cite violations to animal welfare laws and public health risks, yet the city of New York allows the practice to continue."

NEVER LEAVE ANIMALS IN CARS IN EXTREME TEMPS

The Denver Animal Protection department has responded to 130 calls so far this year about animals trapped in vehicles during extreme temperatures, and has had 277 calls about animals without access to shelter.

Dog owners and parents/caretakers of infants must be especially cognizant of the risks of heat stroke and death in hot weather. It takes only about 10 minutes for the temperature inside a car to rise by 20 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the AVMA, and leaving a window cracked does not help much, if at all.

Also, taking dogs out for a walk in hot weather can put some at risk -- especially flat-faced breeds, like pugs, and all older dogs. Put your hand on the sidewalk, feel the heat and use your compassion and common sense!

HEAT WAVE IN MEXICO KILLS HOWLER MONKEYS

At least 138 howler monkeys have been found dead since May 16 in Mexico’s Tabasco state along the Gulf Coast. Five more were in critical condition after being taken to local veterinarian Sergio Valenzuela, who provided intravenous fluids for free in an effort to save them.

Hundreds of the monkeys may have died amid an extreme heat wave, drought and habitat loss. Wildlife biologist Gilberto Pozo said howler monkeys “were falling out of the trees like apples ... in a state of severe dehydration, and they died within a matter of minutes.” Birds and reptiles have met similar fates, Pozo says. (Full story: Associated Press, May 22)

Climate change is a reality -- a global crisis that we humans have created and must now take every possible measure to rectify. It is a political and economic challenge, but we cannot continue with a “business as usual” attitude. Each of us can make a difference when we change our lifestyles and food choices to reduce our carbon footprints.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)