Tobacco Is Toxic For Toto Too

The American Legacy Foundation(R) is challenging pet owners to quit smoking for their pets during the month of April, which kicks off Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month. A growing body of research shows there are no safe levels of exposure to secondhand smoke -- for humans or for animals. And one new study shows that nearly 30 percent of pet owners live with at least one smoker -- a number far too high given the consequences of exposure to secondhand smoke ("SHS").

"Secondhand smoke doesn't just affect people," said Dr. Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, President and CEO of the American Legacy Foundation(R), the national independent public health foundation dedicated to keeping young people from smoking and providing resources to smokers who want to quit. "While most Americans have been educated about the dangers of smoking to their own bodies, it is equally important that pet owners take action to protect their beloved domestic pets from the dangers of secondhand smoke."

An estimated 50,000 Americans lose their lives to secondhand smoke annually and 4 million youth (16 percent) are exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes. A number of studies have indicated that animals, too, face health risks when exposed to the toxins in secondhand smoke, from respiratory problems, allergies and even nasal and lung cancer in dogs and lymphoma in cats. In addition, the ASPCA, one of the largest animal rights groups in the U.S., lists tobacco smoke as a toxin that is dangerous to pets.

"Nicotine from secondhand smoke can have effects to the nervous systems of cats and dogs," said Dr. Sharon Gwaltney-Brant, Medical Director of the ASPCA's Animal Poison Control Center. "Environmental tobacco smoke has been shown to contain numerous cancer-causing compounds, making it hazardous for animals as well as humans. Studies have shown increases in certain types of respiratory cancers in dogs that live in homes with smokers. In addition, exposure to secondhand smoke has been shown to cause many of the same harmful inflammatory changes in the airways and lungs of dogs as their human counterparts. For these reasons, owners should not expose their pets to secondhand smoke in order to minimize the risk of their pets developing lung disease or cancer."

According to a study published in the February 2009 edition of Tobacco Control, 28 percent of pet owners who smoke reported that information on the dangers of pet exposure to SHS would motivate them to try to quit smoking. These findings, coupled with the research on the effects of SHS exposure to animals, signals a new front in the public health community's battle to save lives from tobacco-related disease.

In order to better protect dogs, cats or other pets, the foundation and ASPCA recommend that smokers -- who often consider their domestic pets a part of the family -- "take it outside" when they are smoking. The foundation also provides resources and information to smokers who want to quit for their own health through a national campaign called EX(R), including a Web site for smokers who are quitting just for their pets:

-- EX encourages smokers to approach quitting smoking as "re-learning life without cigarettes"

-- The resources from the campaign help smokers consider the "triggers" that make them want to smoke each day. The program is based on helping people understand that if they can get through each part of their day without a cigarette, they can quit for good.

-- The campaign features www.BecomeAnEX.org, a state-of-the-art Web site with interactive tools and information to help smokers prepare for quitting by developing a personalized plan. The EX Web site offers a virtual community and forums where smokers can share stories and best practices about their quit attempt.

The American Legacy Foundation(R) is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants, technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism, and counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns. The foundation's programs include truth(R), a national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as contributing to significant declines in youth smoking; EX(R), an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use; and a nationally-renowned program of outreach to priority populations. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry.

Source: American Legacy Foundation

One In Three Smokers Would Quit For Sake Of Pets, US Study

Researchers surveying pet owners living in Michigan, USA, found that one in three of the smokers said knowing smoking was bad for their pet's health would make them quit and about one in ten said this would make them ask other smokers they lived with to quit.

The study was carried out by researchers from the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan, and is published online on 10 February in the BMJ journal Tobacco Control.

Although studies show that second hand smoke harms humans and animals, there is not a lot of information on the proportion of pet owners who either smoke themselves or allow others to smoke in their homes.

Second hand smoke has been linked with lymph gland, nasal, and lung cancers, plus a range of allergies, diseases of eye and skin, and respiratory problems in cats and dogs.

For this study, the researchers carried out a web-based survery of 3,293 adult pet owners living in the state of Michigan, USA. They asked them about their smoking status, whether any people living with them smoked, whether they allowed smoking in the home or not, and how knowing about the effects of second hand smoke on animal health would change their intentions about smoking and their smoking policies.

The results showed that:

• 21 per cent of the respondents were current smokers.


• 27 per cent of the respondents lived with at least one other person who smoked.


• 28.4 per cent of respondents who smoked said that knowing about the risks of second hand smoke to animal health would make them try to quit.


• 8.7 per cent of respondents said knowing about the risks of second hand smoke to animal health would make them ask co-habitant smokers to quit.


• 14.2 per cent said that knowing about the risks of second hand smoke to animal health would make them change their smoking policy to ban smoking indoors.


• 16.4 per cent of respondents who were non-smokers but lived with smokers said they would ask their co-habitants to quit.


• 24 per cent of non-smokers who lived with smokers said they would be interested in receiving information about smoking, quitting and the effects of second hand smoke.

The authors concluded that:

"Educational campaigns informing pet owners of the risks of SHS [second hand smoke] exposure for pets could motivate some owners to quit smoking. It could also motivate these owners and non-smoking owners who cohabit with smokers make their homes smoke-free."

They said that pet owners are a devoted bunch and would make good targets for anti-smoking public health campaigns that focus on the effects of second hand smoke on animals.

Nearly two thirds of US homes has at least one pet, and Americans spend about 10 billion dollars a year on pet supplies.

But the depth of devotion that Americans have for their pets is perhaps reflected in the results of a recent survey referred to by the authors as carried out by the American Animal Hospital Association where half the respondents are reported to have said if they were stranded on a desert island they would prefer to have their pet with them rather than another person.

"Pet owners' attitudes and behaviours related to smoking and second-hand smoke: a pilot study."
S M Milberger, R M Davis, A L Holm.
Tobacco Control online first, February 2009.
doi 10.1136/tc.2008.028282

Click here for Tobacco Control online first.

Sources: Journal abstract, BMJ press release.

Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today