Toxic Pets

They aren't toxic to us. We are toxic to them according to a study by Richard Wiles of the Environmental Working Group. Mercury, stain-fighting chemicals, and flame retardant chemicals are found in dogs and cats at an alarming rate. Makes sense, right--our dogs and cats lounge on the floor much more than we do. The EWG published a list of steps to reduce the dangerous chemicals in pets. I care about this because I believe animals have a right to a healthy environment, but if you are more Machiavellian than that, you should care about this issue because the amount of chemicals in pets is a likely signal of the myriad dangerous pets in our own selfish tissue. (For more on that, see Exposed by Mark Schapiro out of the Center for Investigative Reporting. If you have kids, you should definitely check out the CIR site.)

Larry Glickman, of Purdue University, studied thyroid problems in cats and found it is likely linked to high consumption of canned cat food--a chemical that lines the cans is a prime suspect. (Ethical issues prevent a study that proves causality, but the correlation is strong.)

NPR.org Story