Archives

DEAR READERS: In wishing you a happy New Year, it is a good time to look back and see where our past choices have taken us.... more

DEAR DR.FOX. I was delighted to read your “Perpetual War or Metamorphosis?” column in the paper. It’s not every day I see a piece as visionary and forward-thinking as this. Thanks for advancing a long... more

DEAR READERS: Anyone who still consumes bacon, pork or other pig products needs to think twice, especially if they have, and love, a dog or cat -- whose emotional intelligence is equivalent to a pig’s... more

DEAR READERS: We are becoming mindful of our collective carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions, but as society moves to increasing dependence on technology for data storage, as well as the deve... more

DEAR READERS: This Animal Doctor column covers some human health and well-being issues, especially those affecting children, because humans are animals, too. One important such topic is children's use... more

DEAR READERS: Salmon have been spotted in upstream tributaries of the Klamath River at the California-Oregon border just two months after hydroelectric dams were removed, allowing the river to follow ... more

DEAR READERS: The United States has just voted into office a president who has called climate change “a big hoax.” Researchers and activists across the world have reacted with dismay and anger.... more

DEAR READERS: Please see the below story from Reuters about a promising development.... more

DEAR READERS: The possibility of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. overseeing the nation’s health under the Trump administration caused a media stir, as did his stated intention to get fluoride removed from drink... more

DEAR READERS: My forthcoming book, “One Health: Veterinary, Ethical and Environmental Perspectives,” provides a detailed review of what is known about the sentience of plants and animals. The universa... more

DEAR READERS: The main issues in America’s presidential election, aside from women’s rights, were the state of the economy, the rising cost of living and the number of immigrants seeking refuge in the... more

DEAR READERS: Many of you have lawns and gardens, and may be using pesticides and chemical fertilizers that are harmful to us, to our animal companions and to wildlife. Douglas W. Tallamy’s book "Natu... more

DEAR READERS: Physicians, nutritionists and chefs need to wise up and stop promoting salmon as a “health food.” The "mass suffering" on Scottish salmon farms, as reported by Josh Loeb in the British V... more

DEAR DR. FOX: Why are captive hunting facilities or shooting preserves still allowed? In today’s paper, there was an article about a rancher who cloned giant sheep for shooting preserves. (He was fine... more

DEAR READERS: With the precipitous global decline in wildlife and biodiversity, the hearts of some are hardening with indifference, while others are breaking. The plights of political, economic and en... more

DEAR READERS: This is another excerpt from my work-in-progress book, “PAN: People, Animals and Nature -- Restoring Our Sacred Connections.”... more

DEAR READERS: Along with people and their companion animals, farmed animals also suffer during extreme weather events. In the national media coverage of the recent catastrophic storms and floods that ... more

DEAR READERS: Researchers estimate that more than 2,000 different species of animals are killed and eaten by free-roaming domestic cats around the world, posing a serious risk to biodiversity. Cats ha... more

DEAR READERS: There are principles and values from native and Indigenous peoples all over the world that we would all do well to embody and emulate. For instance, the Hopi term Lomakatsi, or "life in ... more

DEAR READERS: In a new study, glyphosate -- the main ingredient in Roundup -- caused severe damage to rats' gut function. Per the study's abstract, this gut damage was "characterized by gut microbial ... more

DEAR READERS: Below is part of an interview with Hao Yu, a postdoctoral student at the University of Bern, that appeared on Science.org in September. It contains fascinating information about emerging... more

DEAR READERS: The excellent reporting by Hiroko Tabuchi in the Aug. 31 New York Times documents the poisoning of farmland, crops and farmed animals with several PFAS -- aka forever chemicals -- along ... more

DEAR READERS: I want to share with you some of my reflective writings on the subject of restoring our sacred connections to nature -- the topic of my next book. I will include excerpts in upcoming col... more

DEAR DR. FOX: Please advise if a 6-year-old male German shepherd and a 4-year-old female Weimaraner can eat fresh blueberries and/or strawberries. -- N.R. and C.R., Naples, Florida... more

DEAR READERS: Keeping wild animals inhumanely in cages and raising them for their fur and/or for medicinal products needs to be prohibited. Not only is it cruel, but these animals act as "potential re... more

DEAR READERS: The outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza in U.S. dairy cows has been confirmed in 200 herds in 15 states, and now the virus has been found in pet cats. Previously, cats on dairy farms had co... more

DEAR READERS: Dog owners may be tempted to think that because animals eat “raw diets” in the wild, the same is appropriate for their canine companions. But wild carnivores and carrion eaters have acid... more

DEAR READERS: Many illnesses and behavioral problems in dogs, cats and other companion animals can be prevented, and others cured, by their caretakers adhering to five basic principles. These qualitie... more