DEAR DR. FOX: I liked your article on the Westminster AKC dog show. I no longer watch it.

The ignorance of the general public never ceases to amaze me. They see a dog on a commercial or in a movie and have to run out and buy one, never checking on what the dog was originally bred for -- Dalmatians bred to run alongside of coaches; beagles bred to chase and bay at prey, etc. Then they get the dog home and are annoyed at the very characteristics the dog was bred for.

You wouldn’t buy a Mack truck to use for grocery shopping, so don’t buy an English mastiff for your 2-year-old so they can “grow up together.”

I did a paper in school on genetic defects in dogs. It was an eye-opening experience: breeding the heads of Irish setters so narrow that their brains were squeezed. Breeding dogs with their own dog-grandfathers to enhance certain characteristics. It is horrible. People need to realize that this interbreeding enhances not only the good features, but the bad ones too: hip dysphasia, collapsed tracheas ... it goes on and on.

Hopefully, we’ll see a trend toward more mixed breeds in commercial venues. And people will realize that instead of paying $2,500 for that cute King Charles spaniel, they can get a mixed breed with its shots, neutered, and a box of goodies for about $150. Then donate the rest of that money to the Humane Society. You’ll make a whole lot of needy dogs happy, and I bet you’ll feel better yourself. -- L.D., Naples, Florida

DEAR L.D.: I hope readers of my column will take your letter to heart and think twice about purchasing a purebred or “designer” first-generation crossbreed deliberately produced for profit.

My article entitled “Recovering Canine Health” (on my website) points to the problems many breeds face and what can be done to rectify them. I advise people never to purchase a pup online, and if one decides on a particular breed, read up on the breed’s health issues and special care needs ahead of time. See the parents of the pup to see how they behave and are being cared for.

Kim Kavin, in her excellent book “The Dog Merchants: Inside the Big Business of Breeders, Pet Stores and Rescuers,” has documented how some local dog “rescue” and adoption organizations are getting their animals from commercial puppy mill breeders.

Our wonderful adopted dog (part Australian red heeler and a little part boxer) came up here to Minneapolis from Alabama, one of several states where there are too many overfilled shelters, which kill any dogs that look like pit bulls.

I hope readers will not be discouraged from adopting if they encounter fees higher than the one you cite. With neutering, tests for parasites, worming and vaccinating costs to cover, coupled with quarantine care and prior transportation from other states, some legitimate shelters charge $300-$400 per dog, which is not unreasonable.

HEROIN SMUGGLED INSIDE OF PUPPIES: THE DEGENERATION OF OUR HUMANITY

A Venezuelan veterinarian accused of surgically implanting liquid heroin into puppies’ stomachs to smuggle the drug from Colombia to the U.S. was extradited to New York City to face charges in federal court. (New York’s WNBC-TV, April 30)

I found this news posting further affirmation of the need for a spiritual renewal and moral inventory of society today. This reported animal cruelty by drug traffickers is nothing new; it simply confirms how degenerate our species has become.

(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 DrFoxVet.net.)

DEAR READERS: The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 19 was a ritual of colorful, traditional pageantry -- but marred for me because of the use of bits in the horses’ mouths. Several were tossing their heads, mouthing and chomping and drooling in obvious oral discomfort. While traditions die hard, especially in equine circles, let’s hope that this couple will extend their compassion to break the circle of anthropocentrism and help ensure the humane treatment of all creatures great and small.

A British veterinary colleague has long established the inhumanity of the snaffle-bit, and has developed a widely used bitless bridle for horses. For details, see W.R. Cook’s “Pathophysiology of Bit Control in the Horse” in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science: bitlessbridle.com/pathophysiology.

Time for the royal horse brigade to get with the times and put animal welfare before blind tradition.

DEAR DR. FOX: I read your call for information from dog owners whose dogs have had coprophagia.

Our now 11-year-old female Yorkie, Amy, exhibited this behavior from day one, when we brought her home at 7 months old. She consistently ate her own and other dogs’ feces. The supplements we fed to help prevent it did not work.

It only stopped when I started feeding her a variation of your homemade dog food recipe, using only organic ingredients and mixing with organic, grain-free kibble. Until then, she was fed various combinations of Science Diet (cans and kibble) and canned organic food. The dietary change was implemented about 1 1/2 years ago, when she started to refuse all her previous foods and then became deathly ill (the vet could never pinpoint the cause of the illness).

As a side benefit, it seems the new diet has eliminated the need to dose Amy with estrogen to prevent urinary incontinence, a lifelong problem, as well. Another seeming benefit: She is ill less often, and, when she is off (usually diarrhea), we are able treat her at home. -- M.W., Naples, Florida

DEAR M.W.: Many readers will appreciate what you have written about your dog’s issue with coprophagia, which does fit into the category of possible nutritional deficiency or digestive issues with the manufactured foods you were providing to your dog.

I have had countless letters confirming the multiple health benefits (and veterinary-care savings) of providing dogs with wholesome nutrition, as per the recipe posted on my website and others in the book I co-authored with two other veterinarians, “Not Fit for a Dog: The Truth About Manufactured Cat & Dog Food.”

What Hippocrates said about the benefits of good nutrition -- namely, “Let food be thy medicine” -- can be applied to dogs, cats and other animals as well, not just humans. Certainly this is our best preventive medicine. And with the rising cost of prescription drugs under the corrupted economy of America’s health care system, consumers are waking up to the dystopian reality of obesogenic diets and manufactured junk foods and sodas. Indeed, we are what we eat, and many of our diet-related health problems are being seen in our dogs and cats.

AVMA OFFERS GUIDANCE ON DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

Does your family’s emergency plan include your animals? Planning and preparation are critical when it comes to protecting the health of your family, pets and livestock. The “Saving the Whole Family” booklet from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) includes detailed information on assembling emergency kits and plans for a wide variety of animal species. The booklet can be ordered in packets of 25 or downloaded for free as a PDF from the AVMA’s website.

Being disaster-prepared is wise in these times of what many experts consider irreversible climate change.

WOLF-DOG HYBRIDS ARE NOT FOR YOU OR ANYONE

I have urged people for decades now to stop breeding and purchasing wolf-dog hybrids. Now the issue is in the news again.

Colorado Public Radio recently covered the Mission: Wolf sanctuary in Colorado, which has been taking in abandoned wolf-dog hybrids since 1986 and serves as a public education resource. Most wolf-dogs are euthanized before they turn 3 years old as they grow from playful puppies to adults with a wild side, says sanctuary co-founder Kent Weber, and animal shelters cannot take in and rehome half-wild animals. (Colorado Public Radio, May 1)

(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 DrFoxVet.net.)

DEAR DR. FOX: I would like to talk about my dog Riley, and the fatty tumor on her back leg. She is old and fat, and has many fatty tumors on her.

One tumor was hanging from her back leg and looked like it was going to come off. She had been licking it like it was bothering her, then she bit it and it won’t stop bleeding. We put a cone on her so she won’t bite it or lick it anymore, and we put some stuff on it so if she does bite it, she will get a bitter taste.

She is 15 years old and if she goes into surgery, she won’t make it. It’s just hard because we don’t know what to do, and she is losing so much blood. The vet can’t do anything, either, without her dying. I really need your help. -- E.M., Chicago

DEAR E.M.: This is an emergency, and you need to take the risk with a competent veterinary anesthesiologist and soft-tissue surgeon to get this tumor removed. Along with the cone around her neck, this tumor is diminishing her quality of life with chronic discomfort.

I will not berate you for waiting too long to have this and other growths removed when your dog was younger and less of a surgical/anesthetic risk. Close relatives of ours kept putting it off with their dog, whose fatty tumor on the flank reached 6 pounds (the dog weighed 35 pounds). The dog was 12 years old, and considered by one veterinarian to be too old for surgery. But after a second opinion and a good surgical team, the growth was removed and the dog enjoyed a full recovery and freedom of movement for another five good years!

E.M. REPLIES: We just took her to the vet and they said that the tumor is cancerous. If she can’t walk anymore, then we have to put her down. Today she could barely get up, and her tumor won’t stop bleeding. We are taking her to the vet again today, but I think it’s time.

DEAR E.M.: My sympathies go out to you and all. This is always a difficult decision, which might have been made earlier if a biopsy on this apparently malignant growth had been conducted.

Recent surveys indicate than 50 percent of dogs aged 10 and over will develop cancer sometime in their lives. This is a sad reflection of what we have done, and continue to do, to ourselves and our loved ones, human and nonhuman, as we poison the planet more and more.

FRENCH BULLDOGS PRONE TO MULTIPLE DISEASES, VETERINARIANS SAY

French bulldogs are especially prone to skin-fold dermatitis, brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome, ear infections, diarrhea and conjunctivitis, according to a study published in Canine Genetics and Epidemiology.

The breed is rapidly becoming one of the most popular in the U.K., giving rise to irresponsible breeding and smuggling, as well as high veterinary costs to treat the issues associated with the breed’s characteristic morphology, said lead author and veterinary epidemiologist Dan O’Neill. (The Telegraph, London, May 3)

They are also rocketing in popularity in the U.S. and other consumer-driven countries, where people’s disposable incomes continue to be misspent and contribute to animal suffering. For dog’s sake, go out and adopt one from your local shelter.

(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 DrFoxVet.net.)