DEAR READERS: The veterinary profession, for better and for worse, has served the interests of society and the economy for generations as part of the cultural separation of humanity from animality. I detail the ethical challenges of helping end this separation in my 2025 book “One Health: Veterinary, Ethical and Environmental Perspectives.”

Regrettably, the American Veterinary Medical Association has yet to show significant progress in this regard. In a meeting in August, the AVMA House of Delegates refused to add the word "often" (proposed by Dr. Colleen Currigan, Feline VMA delegate) to a sentence about cats' post-surgical pain after declawing, opting instead to keep the word "may." Once again, people’s interests are being put before those of animals.

For cats, declawing is dismembering mutilation. Countries that prohibit the declawing of cats include Australia, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Israel and New Zealand, as well as most of Europe and the United Kingdom. In Canada, most provinces have banned the procedure. Multiple states in the U.S. have successfully passed declawing bans, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia, Maryland and New York, as well as Washington, D.C. The list of individual cities that have banned declawing continues to grow, as well.

For more details, go to peta.org/news/where-declawing-is-illegal.

DEAR DR. FOX: Have you ever addressed the issue of people running with their dogs? There are times the dogs’ tongues are hanging sideways as they are compelled to trot alongside their owners, whom I deem to be terribly selfish. I never see these people running with water for their dogs. I’ve seen one lady discipline her dog for not keeping up -- a little Frenchie, at that. I scowled at her, but did nothing else.

To me, it’s animal abuse. I realize some dogs like the exercise, but often it looks too extreme. How should a dog owner evaluate their dog's tolerances? I’ve seen many Labs panting, while some dachshunds trot along happily. I don’t know the distances they have covered, though.

We have a tri-paw rescue, and she seems to overheat just while walking on some of our warmer days (temperatures in the 80s). We always have water for her, and don’t push her. She’ll stop walking sometimes, and we give her a rest. -- N.H.A., Skagit Valley, Washington

DEAR N.H.A.: I have repeatedly raised this issue in my columns over the years, and your concerns are valid. I cannot emphasize enough how stressful it can be for dogs to have to run beside their owners in hot weather.

Dogs cannot sweat like humans to regulate their body temperature, but instead must pant, creating evaporative cooling orally. This is why they can quickly become dehydrated. Also, many owners are unaware how hot the sidewalk or pavement can become, even to the point of burning dogs’ feet.

Heat stress can lead to heat stroke, which can be fatal without immediate emergency veterinary care. Dogs especially at risk are those like the French bulldog you saw -- one of the brachycephalic ("pushed-in face") breeds, which can have difficulty breathing at the best of times. Also at risk are older dogs, overweight dogs and those with chronic heart, joint and other health problems.

Both heat stress and heat stroke can be prevented with mindfulness and empathy. Owners should always take water for their dogs when outdoors for any length of time in hot and humid weather. There are also crushed-ice cooling jackets, which can help.

CLIMATE IMPACT OF SOME DOG FOODS

According to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, many people underestimate the climate impacts of certain actions and overestimate the impacts of others. People also underestimate the negative environmental effects of dog ownership, which contributes to climate change primarily through the feeding of beef to dogs. Dog owners can reduce their climate "footprints" by choosing less carbon-intensive foods, such as seafood and turkey.

For documentation, see the study “The global environmental paw print of pet food” by Peter Alexander et al., published in Global Environmental Change in 2020.

ANOTHER SUPER-DOG!

A certified gluten-detection dog named Suki has been a “game-changer” for Kendra Williams, who has celiac disease. Suki sniffs Kendra's food for gluten and signals with her paw if she detects it. She touches Williams with her nose if the food is safe, saving her from being sick for weeks. (Full story: ABC News, Aug. 26)

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: Here is an excerpt from the 2025 Policy Book of the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (uscattlemen.org):

“WHEREAS the gray wolf management under the Endangered Species Act has proven to be detrimental to livestock producers; and WHEREAS the gray wolf population has exceeded predetermined levels; THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED USCA supports efforts to fully remove the gray wolf from consideration under the Endangered Species Act.”

Like the extermination of Indigenous peoples in centuries past, this attitude toward wolves is a sad reflection of ignorance, fear and prejudice. And it is sadly in service to the environmentally damaging beef industry. The U.S. also imports beef from Brazil, where the cattle industry plays a major role in destroying the Amazon forest. (See my post here: drfoxonehealth.com/post/a-beef-about-beef-boycott-long-overdue.)

While the price and consumption of beef are on the rise in the U.S., the beefeaters of today are major contributors to climate change -- along with this entire industry. The atavistic capitalists of agribusiness and other industries contributing to the climate crisis are roundly confronted by Michael Grunwald in his 2025 book, “We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate.” What is good for the Earth is good for us, and eating beef, as Grunwald asserts, is not.

My friend Jeremy Rifkin said much the same in his 1992 book, “Beyond Beef: The Rise and Fall of the Cattle Culture.” That was 33 years ago! How slow we are to change for the sake of the Earth and the animals, as well as for our own health.

EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES WITH VAFAW

The Veterinary Association For Farm Animal Welfare connects veterinarians around the world to improve the care, health and well-being of farmed animals. Webinars hosted by VAFAW on topics such as pain mitigation and humane end-of-life practices have drawn an international audience. For more details, go to vafaw.org.

GETTING TO THE SOURCES OF HEAT WAVES

From Nature.com: "Climate scientists have been attributing storms, droughts and heat waves to global warming for two decades. Now, they are tracing the chain of responsibility all the way back to the producers of fossil fuels. A study published in Nature shows that around one-quarter of the heat waves recorded over 2000–23 can be directly linked to greenhouse-gas emissions from individual energy giants. The findings could provide fresh evidence to support lawsuits seeking to hold companies accountable for their impacts on the climate."

See the full study: "Systematic attribution of heatwaves to the emissions of carbon majors" by Yann Quilcaille et al., published in Nature in 2025.

RECOVERING CIVILIZATION VIA ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHY

Many readers will appreciate this post by Dr. Evaggelos Vallianatos, a former EPA employee and whistleblower, calling for the establishment of a neo-Platonic and Aristotelian Academy in these times of conflict and ecological and socioeconomic crisis. See the essay here: radiofree.org/2025/08/28/do-we-need-a-platonic-aristotelian-academy.

DOGS CAN GET, AND POSSIBLY SPREAD, COVID-19

“Due to close contact in shared households, pet dogs may be at increased risk for contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus from infected individuals in the same household,” researchers wrote in Virus Research. SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were found in 68% of dogs living in households where someone had had COVID-19, compared with an overall seroprevalence of 12.2% among dogs in general.

Seropositive dogs showed no signs of infection and had been brought to a veterinary clinic for other reasons. (Full story: Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, Sept. 9)

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR DR. FOX: I appreciate your postings about the risks of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, and you make it quite clear you are not an anti-vaxxer.

I wanted to share this study with you from one of my contacts here in the U.K.: "Vitamin D status and outcomes for hospitalised older patients with COVID-19" by Vadir Baktash et al., published in the Postgraduate Medical Journal in 2021.

A brief excerpt: “There appears to be an association between increased COVID-19 incidence and mortality and countries with an increased prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D plays an important role in the modulation of the immune system through promotion of anti-inflammatory cytokines and down-regulation of pro-inflammatory T cells. The occurrence of an inflammatory ‘cytokine storm’ during COVID-19 has been associated with poorer outcomes and increased disease severity.”

Also, see this news item from May 2024: "Guernsey cardiologist calls for investigation into COVID-19 vaccine over possible side effects." (Link: itv.com/news/channel/2024-05-10/cardiologist-calls-for-investigation-into-covid-19-vaccine.)

An excerpt from the story above: “In the year of the COVID pandemic but before the vaccine, there were five cases of myocarditis in Guernsey, which is inflammation of the heart. In 2021, the year of the rollout, these figures increased to 25, and in 2022, cases remained higher at 22. However, in 2023, when fewer vaccines were given, the figures dropped to 11.” -- E.P., Wales, U.K.

DEAR E.P.: I appreciate this additional information about these genetically engineered COVID-19 vaccinations and their side-effects, along with more supportive data on the protective benefits of vitamin D. In a future column, I will post more information about this essential vitamin, since many people are deficient.

Magnesium deficiency is also widespread, and can affect mood and social behavior because it is involved in the synthesis of the “bonding” hormone, oxytocin. More people taking magnesium supplements and eating magnesium-rich foods, such as spinach, pumpkin seeds, lima beans and brown rice, could possibly lower the incidences of depression and violence.

People receiving immunosuppressant medications may be more vulnerable to vaccinosis (adverse vaccine reactions).

DEAR DR. FOX: Thank you for voicing the truth with dignity and grace. I am not sure if the intended hearts are reached or if you are preaching to the choir, but you are a light in the darkness. -- B.R., Boynton Beach, Florida

DEAR B.R.: I deeply appreciate your words of support for my attempts to give the facts, backed by sound science and reason, and to address the ethical, spiritual and existential crises we all face in these times.

All religious traditions, along with secular civil society, can promote the hallowing covenant of loving-kindness toward all sentient beings. All grief, despair and vengeance should be transmuted into empathy, healing and creativity.

The equalitarian ethic of loving-kindness will help us cause less harm and collateral damage to other species when dealing with predators and “pests” that can damage crops and spread disease. In healthy biodiversity, we are more secure, and pests and pestilence better contained -- as I document in my 2025 book, “One Health: Veterinary, Ethical and Environmental Perspectives.”

This covenant is an evolutionary step out of anthropocentrism into ecocentrism and the empathosphere. We must embrace our connectivity with our living planet, Gaia, and the interdependent life community of plants, microorganisms, fungi and animals that define, sustain, inform and reflect our humanity. The evident collective insentience at our present stage of evolution, and related political and ideological polarization, is at a critical point, touching all our lives and determining how we chose to live, vote and die in war or peace.

I have given up on using ethical arguments and reason to encourage better care for animals and protection for the wild. After a half-century of advocating for animals and the environment -- via countless books, academic and popular articles, public debates, demonstrations and conferences -- these efforts have made little difference. In fact, conditions are worse, as we all bear witness to the consequences of climate change, loss of biodiversity and extinction of species and Indigenous peoples.

We are only truly free when we trust life, relinquish control and recover our feral spirit of mindful empathy. Homo sapiens, at its current collective state of evolution, is in the chrysalis of anthropocentrism. I therefore think that addressing human health and welfare issues from a spiritual perspective will break through this self-centered worldview for the common good -- which includes the economies and well-being of every nation.

Evolution is revolution -- and it is nonviolent because it involves empathy and compassion-in-action.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)