Question:
There has been a lot of publicity about how the avian flu could become a serious epidemic. Could this also harm my cats? The TV clips of how infected poultry are cruelly disposed of are really sickening. What precautions do you suggest?.
S.K., St. Paul, MN Apr 16, 2006
Answer:
While infected migratory birds are helping spread this disease, the primary cause is the inhumane and unsanitary conditions under which poultry are being raised in China and other countries from the Far East across Europe to the Americas.Pigs are raised similarly in overcrowded factory farms around the world. They could become the next source of this virus if it mutates and infects them.The impact on wild birds is tragic. Zoo tigers have died in Thailand from eating raw infected chickens. This means domestic cats in the United States could become contaminated by eating infected wild birds if the cats roam free.Progress in public health and in veterinary medicine calls for more humane treatment of farmed animals, abolition of factory farms and enlightened changes in our own dietary habits and choices. For many consumers, this means vegetarianism (but I do not advocate this for your cats). For more details, see my book "Eating With Conscience: The Bioethics of Food" (NewSage, 1997).
Subscribe