AR-News: Smoking = Animal Abuse

[Adam Weissman, Wetlands Preserve]

Pets and secondhand smoke

by Linda Lechler
March 18, 2003



She sits by the window of her third story apartment hovered in a 
small corner of the room smoking a cigarette and thinking about Jack 
Daniels.

No, Sarah Billings is not a closet smoker or alcoholic but a pet 
owner who cares deeply for Jack, her 5-year-old hound-dog mix. She 
has known Jack for his whole life and is concerned about how her 
secondhand smoke may affect him.

"Dogs age almost seven times faster than us," Billings said, a junior 
majoring in psychology. "Secondhand smoke can cause problems fast. I 
take Jack (to the vet) frequently and he appears to be fine," 
Billings said. "But they don't do any specific tests to see early 
signs (of secondhand smoke)."

Billings said she has smoked cigarettes around Jack for half of a 
year and worries about his sporadic wheezing, coughing and 
hyperventilating around cigarette smoke.

"I am close with my dog," Billings said. "I would never forgive 
myself if I caused his early demise."

Billings, along with other pet owners, is slowly becoming aware of 
the effects of secondhand smoke on pets. Two studies were done at 
CSU's Veterinary Teaching Hospital headed by John Reif, professor of 
epidemiology, and the department chairman for environmental and 
radiological health sciences, and associates that helped to bring 
awareness of secondhand smoke to the public.

In 1992, Reif conducted a study entitled, "Passive Smoking and Canine 
Lung Cancer Risk." Reif also headed the second study of similar 
interests, in 1998, titled "Cancer of the Nasal Cavity and Paranasal 
Sinuses and Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke in Pet Dogs."

"These studies are really the first to make us aware of secondhand 
smoke on animals," Reif said. "They are the first of their kind."

There were several factors taken into consideration during the 
studies, such as number of smokers in the home, number of packs of 
cigarettes smoked in the home per day by the heaviest smoker, the 
time the dog spent inside the home, and the age, sex, body size and 
skull shape of the dog.

"All these factors involved are important," Reif said. "All exposures 
are contributing factors."

According to the study, a dog that has exposure to a smoker in the 
home is 1.6 times more likely to develop lung cancer than a dog that 
is not exposed to a smoker.

The study found that skull shape had an effect on the estimated risk 
of lung cancer in dogs. Dogs with long noses (like German shepherds) 
have a higher risk for nasal cancer and dogs with short noses (like 
pugs) have a higher risk for lung cancer, Reif said. This is because, 
in theory, a dog with a long nose has an extra filtering system in 
its nose, so it is more likely to develop nasal cancers, Reif said.

"Both studies are important because they show exposure to secondhand 
smoke has an increased risk for cancer of respiratory system in 
dogs," Reif said.

He said some of the warning signs of lung cancer in dogs include 
chronic coughing, weight loss and abnormal fatigue. Warning signs of 
nasal cancer include swelling over the nose or sinus area, sneezing 
and bloody nasal discharge, Reif said.

The only real prevention for these cancers is to not smoke around 
your pets, Reif said.

"Obviously people are encouraged not to smoke," he said. "People who 
choose to smoke should do so away from pets, outdoors."

Although the public is slowly becoming aware of the effects of 
secondhand smoke through studies like these, the concept is still 
unknown to many. Out of 20 random practicing veterinarians called in 
the Fort Collins and Loveland yellow pages, not one of them knew a 
lot about any studies done about the effects of secondhand smoke and 
pets. Also, none of these veterinarians are currently talking to 
their clients about secondhand smoke's potential negative effects.

This lack of awareness may not be so prevalent at the CSU campus this 
coming spring, however. The new approach to the subject of secondhand 
smoke affecting pets was an inspiration for a new campaign in the 
tobacco cessation program headed by Jerusha Hall with the assistance 
of Andrea Boone at the CSU Hartshorn Health Center.

"The whole campaign started because as a smoker I was looking for a 
different approach to tobacco education," Hall said, a senior animal 
science major.

She said the approach to tobacco cessation has been seen in the same 
light for too long and finding a new twist might help to reach more 
people. Hall said she takes better care of her dogs then she does 
herself in some ways and knows she is not alone in this behavior.

"To me it was an approach that I hadn't seen before and maybe it is 
something that would connect for some other smokers," Hall said. " 
The process of cessation is so difficult and maybe just looking at 
things differently may help."

The major goal of the pets and health campaign, which starts later 
this spring, is for people on campus to gain some awareness on the 
tobacco issue, Hall said.

This project will include a poster campaign with resource numbers, 
Web sites and a tentatively scheduled dog day on campus which will 
include health checks for dogs, Frisbee and bandana giveaways, 
getting your dog's photo taken with Mr. Butts (a speaker on 
secondhand smoke and your pet) and a raffle for t-shirts.

This event is tentatively planned for April 23, with the posters 
coming out a week or two before the event.

-- 
"Kindness and compassion towards all living things is a mark of a 
civilized society. Racism, economic deprival, dog fighting and 
cockfighting, bullfighting and rodeos are all cut from the same 
defective fabric: violence. Only when we have become nonviolent 
towards all life will we have learned to live well ourselves.-- Cesar 
Chavez, United Farm Workers


Recognizing the common roots of all forms of oppression, The Activism 
Center at Wetlands Preserve fights for human, animal, and earth 
liberation through protest, direct action, street theater, political 
advocacy, and public education.  We always new volunteers and 
interns! For more information call (201) 968-0595 or email 
activism at wetlands-preserve.org

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