Last week we were asked by a client if he could take his female dog to the dogs beach when she is in season. By a strictly veterinary point of view, there is no contraindication for her health, but common sense would discourage it since it’s not the best moment to go to the beach. Females in season are often more nervous than normal, and even very aggressive against other females. Not to mention what would happen with males… Definitively we wouldn’t take a female dog of ours to the beach if she is in season.
Anyway, in most dog friendly beaches and dog parks, females in season are not allowed. The regulation is made by the Town Hall where the beach or park is located, and like any other official regulation, must be respected. Dogs must be chipped and have a valid and non-expired rabies injection. Of course, dogs suffering from contagious diseases such as kennel cough are also forbidden in these public places.
When we have a pet, we have a double responsibility:
- Protect and care our pet.
- Prevent our pet causes any damage to other pets, people or environment.
A good example of this would be notifiable diseases, such as Leishmaniasis in dogs and Toxoplasmosis in cats. This two diseases are specially important sice they can be transmitted to people.
Let’s imagine a children classroom: the same way we don’t want any child suffering from lice at our children’s class, we have the responsibility of not to take our children to school if they are suffering from lice. In this cases, we just wait till they are back to normal, same as we would do in case of chicken pox: it’s not a very worrying disease, but it’s our duty to protect other people.
In case of cats suffering from STD’s such as AIDS or leukaemia, the most logical option is to neuter positive animals for stopping them from spreading the viruses.
When we inoculate and give antiparasitic treatments to our pets, we are not only protecting our pet, but also other pets and people: it’s a proven fact that cases of tapeworm infestations in humans (including horrible hydatid cysts) have dropped dramatically since dogs are regularly dewormed.
Other precautions such as walking dogs on the lead prevent accidents, which can be very serious in case bike and motorbike riders are involved.
It’s true that everybody feels more relaxed about their obligations in summer, but we shouldn’t forget to protect our pets all year round, and this way we will protect people as well.
Liliana Aldeguer Cerdán col 793
English translation by Sergio Reina Esteban col 747
