Pets, Fear and Fireworks: The Fallout and Terrible Consequences of Fear and Anxiety for Our Pets. Part 2, Beyond Fear, Anxiety Disorders
In the first article, I looked at how the ‘fear system’ works as a normal, adaptive neurophysiological network essential for the survival of an organism. In this article, I explore the neuropathology of how the ‘fear system’ goes wrong and the serious consequences this has on the animal’s welfare when it does.
Pets, Fear and Fireworks: The Fallout and Terrible Consequences of Fear and Anxiety for Our Pets. Part 3, Using Prescription Medication
In the first and second article of this series, I looked at how the normal ‘fear system’ works and how this emotional system can become a long-standing, maladaptive anxiety and depression disorder. In this third article of the series, I take an evidence-based approach to selecting and using prescription pharmaceuticals as part of a well-constructed behavioural therapy plan for dogs whose lives have been ruined by fireworks.
Pets, Fear and Fireworks: The Fallout and Terrible Consequences of Fear and Anxiety for Our Pets. Part 4, Using Alternative, Non-Prescription Therapies
In Part 3 of this article, I presented an evidence-based summary of how and why psychoactive prescription medicines can – and in some dogs – should be used to manage fear and anxiety around fireworks. I described fear as an experience generated in the brain, so any effective therapy, regardless of what it is and how it is delivered, MUST ultimately interact with specific receptors in the brain that modulate the fear circuits in some way.
In this fourth and final part of this series on fear and fireworks in pets, I take a broad look at products that are marketed as ‘alternative remedies’, or ‘therapies’ for managing fear in pets.
UK Tip-Toes Toward Better Animal Abuse Legislation
None of us will ever forget the tragic news of the arson attack and fire at the Manchester Dogs Home on the evening of Thursday 11th September 2014. This senseless act of cruelty, and the fear and suffering those poor dogs must have gone through, is difficult to comprehend. Yet the tragedy did strike a chord in the Nation’s hearts. Within 24 hours over £1 million pounds was raised and the final figure was over £1.5 million, all through public donations.
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UK Still Failing in Humane Slaughter
In 2015, a story emerged that shocked this, ‘our nation of animal lovers’. Video clips of appalling abuse of animals waiting in line to be slaughtered at an abattoir found their way into the public domain via social media and went viral (Mirror, 2015). But these stories are not new. The same thing happened 5 years earlier in 2010 (Guardian, 2010). After the 2010 incident, the government called around 370 UK slaughterhouses to voluntarily install surveillance cameras (CCTV) to “…help enforce legislation against cruelty to animals…“.
Pets and Taxation Are We Paying too Much?
I recently posted up a small piece on our COAPE Facebook site about taxation and pets and the interest and debate it generated was phenomenal. It was even shared by a well-known dogs magazine and taken up in the veterinary press. So, for this blog, I thought you would enjoy an expanded version of that post.
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What Does the Term ‘Animal Suffering’ Mean to You?
This may seem a very obvious question, but actually it is not. This article explores some of the complexities of objectively defining what ‘animal suffering’ is. In this article, for conciseness, the term ‘human’ is used to identify human animals and the term ‘animal’ is used to identify non-human animals. In addition, the terms ‘she’ and ‘he’ are used, rather than ‘it’, because companion animals have names and therefore a gender.
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Seminar Review: THE SCIENCE OF CANINE EMOTIONALITY
Seminar Review: THE SCIENCE OF CANINE EMOTIONALITY, BEHAVIOUR PROBLEMS AND THERAPEUTICS, AND ITS PRACTICAL APPLICATION FOR VETERINARIANS IN PRACTICE
Presented by Dr Robert Falconer-Taylor, BVetMed, DipCABT, MRCVS, Centre of Applied Pet Ethology (COAPE).
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Shock Collars: What Manufacturers Don’t Want You to Know
We make no apologies for this article being one-sided – that is – against the use of e-collars for training dogs. Furthermore, we challenge anyone who feels that the information presented here is overly bias against e-collars to produce equally robust research supporting the benefits of these devices in everyday dog training.
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