The Animal Doctor

DEAR READERS: Colossal Biosciences Inc., a genetic engineering company aiming to "de-extinct" the woolly mammoth, the dodo and other animals, recently unveiled its so-called "woolly mice." These mice harbor a mix of mutations modeled on characteristics of woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius), as well as changes known to alter hair growth in mice. The company claims that the animal is a breakthrough in its quest to bring back woolly mammoths by genetically modifying Asian elephants, the mammoth’s closest living relative, while giving lip service to animal welfare concerns and implying this work could benefit biodiversity recovery.

In my opinion, this techno-triumphalism may be well-intended, but it is irrelevant to the real challenge of protecting and restoring the natural biodiversity remaining on this planet. The resurrection of extinct species is a waste of time and money.

I am writing this while a troop of wild turkeys are eating the grains I had put out for the squirrels and small birds. I am in awe of these large, colorful descendants of theropods: a group of meat-eating dinosaurs that includes Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor.

We humans "share a common ape ancestor with chimpanzees," reports the Smithsonian's Human Origins website. "It lived between 8 (million) and 6 million years ago. ... All apes and monkeys share a more distant relative, which lived about 25 million years ago." Humans share around 99% of their genes with chimpanzees, making chimpanzees our closest living genetic relatives. Exploiting them in biomedical research must end.

Our mistreatment and continued exploitation of other animals -- our relations, all of them -- is spiritually and ethically untenable.

PLAYING GOD AND SEEING GOD IN ALL

Animals have always held me in awe and wonder. Ever since childhood, I have felt that animals were what I would now call theophanies -- appearances of God. At the time, I had no word to express what I felt in the presence of creatures great and small, as well as the various plants and trees that allowed me to climb them.

Ecologist Rene Dubos expressed similar ideas in his 1972 book, “A God Within.” But the mythology of modern civilization -- taken from Genesis 1:26-28, where God instructs humans to “have dominion” over creation -- has led to the domination, genocide and slavery of Indigenous peoples; the exploitation and annihilation of animals; and the desecration of nature under the pioneer spirit of “manifest destiny.” Now we have genetic engineering companies promising to resurrect extinct species -- as an act of contrition? -- while pigs are engineered to save human lives as organ donors.

Is it not time for us to stop trying to play God, and instead awaken and care for all our planetary relations?

Those who applauded President Trump’s address before Congress on March 4, where he invoked his “American Dream” based on the Project 2025 script, might change their perception after reading Thomas Berry’s 1988 book, “The Dream of the Earth.” Until we re-sanctify nature, we will never be secure. The natural world is a living community, not a resource to exploit, and animals were not created just for our use.

A REPORT FOR EDUCATORS

This insightful survey may be a valuable resource for educators and parents who want to help this young generation focus, get involved and have agency -- rather than dwell in anxiety and despair -- about climate change, environmental and animal protection. See "The Attitudes of Generation Z Towards Animals and the Environment" here: faunalytics.org/exploring-gen-zs-attitudes-towards-animals-and-the-environment.

For health care professionals and others seeking scientific documentation of our challenges and solutions, see my book “One Health: Veterinary, Ethical and Environmental Perspectives.” It was reviewed here: psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/202502/healing-our-connections-with-animals-nature-and-one-another.

(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: The rise of H5N1 avian influenza in cats highlights the need to include pets in disease surveillance, writes a group of veterinarians, epidemiologists and biosecurity specialists in an article on STATnews.com. The experts recommend coordinated federal, state and industry actions to improve surveillance and point-of-care testing, especially for pets of agricultural workers and others in high-exposure occupations, and pets with access to raw milk or meat.

“Data that reveal the prevalence of H5N1 in different populations of cats, coupled with interpolation of human H5N1 data, could help to unravel the ways in which cats may be part of the transmission chain of this promiscuous virus,” the experts write. (Full story: STATnews.com, March 4)

Cats allowed outdoors who consumed or contacted infected birds have died, and outdoor cats run the risk of bringing the H5N1 avian influenza virus into their homes and infecting humans. A cat in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, was euthanized after contracting avian flu, and other cats on the property are reportedly also sick. The euthanized cat had no known exposures to infected poultry or livestock, nor to raw meat or unpasteurized milk, but it was allowed to roam outdoors. (Full story: WPVI-TV, Philadelphia, Feb. 28)

It is time for all cat owners to keep their cats indoors and for municipalities to apply the same ordinances to cats and dogs alike: None should be allowed to roam free. Besides reducing the risk of disease transmission, this will help save our dwindling wild bird and small mammal populations. These are needed to help preserve and restore regional parks, woodlands, grasslands, wetlands and “rewilded” suburban communities.

DEAR DR. FOX: I feel completely helpless to affect what the world is allowing -- even condoning and endorsing -- in Palestine. But I am not powerless in asking you to please donate to Anas Arafat’s work in Gaza.

Anas is an amazing individual who has been providing free food, blankets and clothing to the people in Gaza since 2020 through individual donations. I know him. I trust him. I honor his dedication. Due to complications with diabetes, he has lost his vision in one eye, and yet he keeps on doing what he calls “my duty to the people in Gaza.”

You can read a message from Anas, and donate to support his work, here: muslimgiving.org/Ramadan25g4za. -- V.S., Camano Island, Washington

DEAR V.S.: I hope all who read your appeal will reach out and send donations. And readers who want to help animals in Gaza, including the hardworking donkeys and the starving dogs, can go to: eurogroupforanimals.org/news/solidarity-humans-and-animals-gaza. See also Sulala Animal Rescue, Gaza’s only animal welfare organization, which can be found on Facebook.

We may be on the cusp of World War III, with competing oligarchies and autocracies devoid of ethics and compassion. All U.S. federal agencies responsible for the protection of wildlife and wildlands, as well as public health and welfare, are being illegally dismantled by executive order. This is clearly taking us down the wrong path!

We would be wise to take what some Indigenous cultures call "the pollen path" to heal this ravaged Earth, and ourselves. The pollen path is a metaphor for a life guided by balance and harmony. It is a spiritual and ethical concept in both Navajo and Hopi traditions. The other path, according to the Hopi Message delivered to the United Nations in 1992, leads us to yet another world war as regional conflicts spread.

The Hopi Message centers me and makes me feel I am not alone because there are many others who feel as I do. Where there is suffering, let there be loving-kindness: compassion in action, as declared by Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and Islam alike. When we pass through the portal of the ego-sphere into the eco-sphere, we realize we are all related.

(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: Organic, regenerative farming practices are a core component of One Health, benefiting the environment, wildlife and consumers. The cancers of our brains and bodies mirror the cancer of the soul of industrial civilization; the spiritual connections with all our relations have been severed in the name of progress and profits.

The soil, air and water are poisoned with pesticides and other chemicals used in conventional, industrial agriculture. Animals raised for food are given drugs that harm them -- and consumers -- while other species are subject to mass extinction. The net result is ecological dysbiosis with the disruption of beneficial microorganisms in the soil and in our guts. This, in turn, contributes to climate change, dysfunctional economies and ever-sicker communities, many members of which cannot afford health insurance.

A secular, Earth-saving and restorative spirituality is spreading to counter these harmful forces. More consumers are voting with their dollars, purchasing organically certified foods and opting for plant-based diets, the public health and environmental benefits of which have been well documented. For example, see the study "Cardiometabolic benefits of a non-industrialized-type diet are linked to gut microbiome modulation" by Fuyong Li et al., published in Cell in March. See also Dr. Will Tuttle’s book, "The World Peace Diet."

To make organically certified produce more available and affordable, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should subsidize organic, regenerative agriculture without further delay.

Recycling organic waste is also crucial. One method is to create biochar: The process involves heating organic waste in a low-oxygen environment, essentially taking carbon out of the atmosphere and sequestering it in charcoal. Biochar, when added to the soil, increases organic matter and water retention.

Animal and human waste can be processed into biogas and fertilizer, but with the advent of the flush toilet, most human waste instead goes into sewage systems, many of which pollute fresh and marine water ecosystems. Capturing and recycling unprocessed sewage for agricultural purposes has led to the closure of some farms because of toxic chemical contamination. Fortunately, such practices are prohibited under organic certification standards.

DEAR DR. FOX: I am a freelance journalist, and I’m wondering if you saw the paper out of Korea about successfully engineering a hypoallergenic cat through CRISPR. If so, what do you think about it?

Are we still pretty far from hypoallergenic cats being commercially bred for our homes? Or will that be coming soon, in your opinion? -- A.Z., Brooklyn, New York

DEAR A.Z.: Thank you for alerting me to this report about using gene editing to create a hypoallergenic cat, who was then was cloned to create a similar feline. (Study: "Generation of Fel d 1 chain 2 genome-edited cats by CRISPR-Cas9 system" by Sang Ryeul Lee et al., published in Scientific Reports, February 2024.)

I am, in principle, opposed to the genetic engineering of animals, including the cloning of dogs and cats, because of the potential for adverse pleiotropic effects -- unanticipated genetic dysfunctions. The risks are compounded by the exploitation of surrogate mothers for these animals. Even if successful, scaling up this technology to create hypoallergenic cats will take time and money.

There are alternatives that may be beneficial for cat owners who are allergic to their cats’ dander. One is a food additive called LiveClear by Purina, marketed to make cats less allergenic to people. It utilizes a protein derived from eggs that binds to the primary cat allergen in a cat’s saliva, neutralizing it when the cat grooms itself -- effectively reducing the amount of allergen present in the fur and dander. And U.S. company Pacagen markets a household spray and a food topping, both of which claim to block the allergen in cat saliva.

Many people with mild cat allergies can get by with wearing a glove and wiping their cat twice daily with a moist, unscented wipe such as Huggies plant-based wipes.

Some cats are reportedly hypoallergenic, according to people who have told me that they are allergic to other people's cats, but not their own. No breed was identified in these cases. Mutant hairless cats may be less allergenic, but I am opposed to the creation of any such extreme mutations in domestic animals.

I would like to hear from readers who have used Purina’s product or those from Pacagen.

(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.)