Name(s):
Epidemic of domestic animals
Nature
Large numbers of pets and domestic animals are maintained in households, particularly in developed countries. These pets consume considerable amounts of food at a time of increasing food shortage. The situation has worsened because of the changing composition of diets for cats and dogs. Recent developments in pets' feeding habits, arising from the growth of the pet-food industry, puts them in competition for food with the human population. Pets are also an important factor in the transmission of disease to man and to other domestic animals. Sidewalks of crowded inner cities are littered with dog excrement which causes disease, particularly among young children. The acquisition of wildlife as pets from areas where rabies or rarer diseases are endemic constitutes a special public health problem. The novelty of exotic pets appeals to some people, but there seems to be a lack of public information on how to handle or keep such animals as ocelots, raccoons, tarantulas, and armadillos. Three-quarters of these animals die within six months or are deposited in a humane society shelter or roadside zoo. Research also indicates that what is assumed to be animal love is, in many instances, animal exploitation or an expression of the owner's vanity.