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The Veterinary Public Health and Rabies Control
Program (VPH-RCP) would like to extend an
invitation to physicians, veterinarians, and and
other animal-related organizations to join the
new 2020 Healthy Pets Healthy Families
initiative. We are creating a coalition to
identify ways human and animal health intersect.
The group will be tracking local animal health
data and setting goals for the year 2020. During
this decade, members will be creating
educational campaigns and other strategies to
meet the goals. |
Potential areas of
interest are:
Pet
Obesity:
Pet
obesity is skyrocketing, just like with people. What can
help? Walking the dog! Studies show that walking the
dog helps people get the recommended amount of exercise.
By exercising together, owners and their pets can get
healthy.
Second-hand smoke:
Pets can develop cancer after being exposed to second
hand smoke. They can become ill after accidentally
eating cigarette butts. A recent study supported the
idea that educating smokers about the risk to pets may
motivate them to quit.
Spay-Neuter:
Pets that are spayed or neutered have a reduced risk of
certain cancers, and are less likely to roam, be hit by
a car or bite someone.
Parasite Control:
Keeping a pet free of fleas, ticks and other parasites,
protects not only the pet, but the family and
neighborhood, from a variety of diseases. Pet owners
that pick up the poop safeguard the community from
contamination.
Vaccine preventable diseases:
By increasing pet vaccination, we not only protect pets
from these diseases, we also reduce the financial and
emotional costs that these illnesses inflict on the
community.
Disaster Preparedness
and pets: Preparing the family pets for disasters
helps start the process of preparing the whole family.
Bite Prevention:
Approximately 2% of the population is bitten every year.
Most animal bites can be prevented.
To create local animal
health goals, we need local data. VPH-RCP created the
online
Pet Health and Safety Quiz
in order to begin the process of gathering this data.
What
can I do?
