Page 114 - ShowSight - May 2020

ON THE LINE: COVID-19 SIDE EFFECTS ON THE DOG FANCY
“THE COVID-19 SHUT-DOWN SHOULD REMIND US OF HOW VULNERABLE WE ARE AND HOW MUCH WE DEPEND ON MODERN CONVENIENCES.”
“SO HUG YOUR DOG, HUNKER DOWN, PAMPER YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM, AND AVOID SIDE EFFECTS POLITICAL OR MEDICAL.”
The shelters of today are less “humane” and generally more like profit-driven enterprises trafficking on our emotional need to love and be loved.
What about dog food when you can’t get to the store? Responsible dog breeders keep plenty of fresh or frozen meat and meat/poultry/fish- based kibble on hand. The best dog owners know that all canines need a balanced diet that includes what they would have in their natural envi- ronment. The dog, like wolves, coyotes, foxes, etc. is a carnivore. He eats meat not grain. Not grain.
Okay, I see you nodding, but I’ll bet you never thought about this—a carnivore’s natural prey eats grasses, fruits and berries. Not grain. From mice to moose, a carnivore’s table is set with prey that never tasted corn, wheat, or rice. Got it? Unless you are a hunter, nothing you can do about that, especially now.
But it is not too late to advise you to keep a freezer-full of meat, poultry, and green veggies. And you can always find room for plenty of canned mackerel, especially if you own a Northern breed.
And did I mention a backup generator...The COVID-19 shut-down should remind us of how vulnerable we are and how much we depend on modern conveniences.
Most major urban areas have back-up power for hospitals and emer- gency services, but probably not for your neighborhood. What are the odds you will lose power, sooner or later? Only you can answer that depending on your area and optimism.
I have ordered a solar-powered generator to keep my solar-powered hot water collector company.
Will COVID-19 be the last plague? We survived the Black Plague in Europe and here in America, smallpox in the 1600s, Yellow Fever in 1793, three bouts with Cholera in the 1800s, and Scarlet Fever in 1858. Then there was Typhoid Fever in 1906, Spanish Flu in 1918, and Diph- theria in the 1920s, but it took 30 years to finally vaccinate polio away in the mid-1950s.
AIDS-HIV hit Americans in the 1980s and lingers on...Measles killed nearly 10,000 over ten years before vaccines finally triumphed in the 1990s. In 2010, Whooping Cough (pertussis) was back and it hit California hard.
So COVID-19 in 2020 is not only new, but where and how it origi- nated is a new concept. First, even though we’re told it was/is zoonotic, there are no reports of it affecting animals. Yes, dogs are vaccinated for Coronavirus, but this one is “different...” The puzzle is—if it was trans- mitted from bats in Wuhan, China, then it would have to be zoonotic, meaning it is contagious between animals and humans.
The “good news” is that so far that hasn’t happened. So no, you can’t get it from your dog, cat, horse, etc. The worrisome news is if COVID-19 is not zoonotic, then how did it get into Europe and America? Newscast- ers are beginning to suggest the obvious.
By mistake or malicious intent, it came from China and the effects are far-reaching. So hug your dog, hunker down, pamper your immune system, and avoid side effects political or medical.
112 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, MAY 2020