DEAR DR. FOX: In case you need it, this is just to commend your speaking out about what’s wrong with this world, the environment, animal health and public health.

Keep up the fight. -- C.H., Naples, Florida

DEAR DR. FOX: I never paid attention to your column until I happened to notice your connecting animal advice to environmental issues. I don’t “own” any pets, but now I look for interesting tidbits in your articles that confirm my feelings about how the destruction of the natural world impacts all of our lives. It’s not ”politics” -- it’s reality. -- A.T., Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania

DEAR C.H AND A.T.: I appreciate your words of support. Anyone with even a grain of empathy certainly needs such support, given these times of an economically and socially disruptive pandemic, political pandemonium, corruption, disinformation and the in-our-faces climate and extinction crises.

The more one knows, the more one suffers -- especially when confronted by the denial and lies of others. Lies abound, whether about the suffering of factory-farmed animals, the starvation of marine animals from our overfishing and ocean pollution, or the desecration and decimation of wildlands and indigenous peoples around the world.

Once, humans could communicate with other species as gatherer-hunters who gave thanks to the lives they took to sustain their own. Once, farmers could read the weather and know when best to plant and harvest. But now this weather-wisdom has been supplanted by computer-assisted “precision” farming with climate-monitoring satellite telecommunication systems. All of this seems justified now, because we have created unpredictable climatic aberrations -- for instance, the devastating drought and fires in California and floods in China. Another dire warning is the recent derecho that destroyed so many homes and millions of acres of Iowa farmland.

Artificial intelligence is no substitute for natural intelligence and indigenous wisdom. It is a distraction from the tasks of recovering our sanity and relearning how to listen to the Earth. The One Health worldview calls for reducing our use of fossil fuels for food production and transportation, as well as limiting our over-reliance (in more affluent countries) on using animals as a primary food source. I see these issues as the proper, primary agenda of every government and of every conscientious consumer.

As the late Dr. Albert Schweitzer advised, ”A man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him, that of plants and animals as that of his fellow men, and when he devotes himself helpfully to all life that is in need of help.”

DEAR DR. FOX: I saw your 2016 article that contained information on the American Kennel Club’s involvement with unethical breeders. My family suddenly lost our beloved dog Rex, an AKC-registered Rottweiler, at only 7 years old. He had multiple joint problems requiring surgery on all four limbs during his life, and ended up dying due to complications from a rare form of highly aggressive osteosarcoma.

We are devastated from losing him so quickly and so young. There were obvious genetic issues at the root of his joint problems, and likely his cancer. After his death, I am now realizing that his issues were in part due to breeding.

Do you have any recommendations on who I could contact (at AKC or otherwise) to try to prevent any future litters that may be impacted by the genetic issues my Rex experienced? -- A.M-W., Washington, D.C.

DEAR A.M-W.: I regret hearing of the demise of this poor dog and how much he must have suffered. Advances in genetic screening for inherited diseases in dogs offer the opportunity for ethical breeders of purebred dogs to improve the health and well-being of our canine companions.

I think it is long past time for the AKC to stop making money simply as a dog-breed registry (notably for puppy mill-bred dogs) and as a manufactured dog food industry-promoting dog show business, and get with the times. Anyone purchasing a purebred dog or “designer” breed (like a Labradoodle) should have a certificate of assurance of freedom from any inherited disease or anomaly that could lead to health issues at any time during that animal’s life. For details, see my article “Recovering Canine Health,” posted on my website (drfoxonehealthcom).

(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: I received this release about a new frontier in veterinary treatment, and share it with you out of great interest:

“A human placenta-derived compound developed by a University of Florida faculty member in the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering is being used with promising results by veterinarians at UF’s College of Veterinary Medicine to treat animals with severe bone loss.

“Without the compound, the animals, which included a giraffe at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens and two pet dogs, would have almost certainly faced amputation of the affected areas, the veterinarians said.

“The product’s developer, Peter McFetridge, Ph.D., the Integra LifeSciences Term Professor in the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, studies the engineering of viable ‘living’ tissues and organs for the repair and regeneration of diseased tissues. Stan Kim, BVSc., an associate professor of small-animal surgery at UF, learned of McFetridge’s work and was intrigued about the placental compound he had been testing in rodent models with some success.

“McFetridge and Kim began discussing possibilities for the product’s additional use in small animals. Kim treated the dogs with the new compound at UF’s Small Animal Hospital earlier this year.

“’Both dogs had very bad fractures that did not heal and had lost a lot of bone,’ Kim said. ‘Typical treatments usually fail in these types of cases.’

“The dogs were completely healed after the placental treatment, he said, and are doing very well.

“’The most exciting thing about the placental compound is that it seems to regenerate bone in a remarkable manner,’ Kim said. ‘Although our main excitement is with regenerating bone, we have also had very positive results with wounds.’”

DEAR DR. FOX: Please keep up the good work re: your advocacy on the subject of animal and human health. It has changed how I hope to source my food supplies.

Incidentally, my 10-year-old Shih Tzu has nearly perfect teeth, and I attribute that to a daily dental chew from Ark Naturals. It is the only oral care I provide. -- B.H., Naples, Florida

DEAR B.H.: Thanks for confirming one of many good dental products now on the market for dogs. Not all dogs enjoy chewing, so it may be necessary to try different kinds of safe, chewy products to find which the dog likes best. Avoid pig and other animal parts -- dehydrated and/or smoked -- that may be contaminated by bacteria, chemicals and radiation sterilization.

Some dogs prefer to chew on one side only, so dental cleaning from chews in these cases is far from complete. This is why I advise from puppyhood on to get our canine companions used to having their teeth brushed, or rubbed with a gauze wrap around one finger soaked in a paste of equal parts sea salt, baking soda, aloe vera gel and green tea.

STUDY CONFIRMS DOGS TRY TO RESCUE PEOPLE IN DISTRESS

Dogs are likely to try to rescue their owners if they perceive distress and can figure out how, researchers reported in PLOS ONE. Dogs were more likely to try to open a box if their owner was inside signaling distress than if the owner was calmly reading aloud or if food was dropped into an empty box.

(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: For decades now, local animal shelters/humane societies have been releasing cats considered unadoptable to fend for themselves in communities across America. This so-called TNR -- trap, neuter and release, often including a short-lasting rabies vaccination -- has been documented as not significantly reducing the numbers of local free-roaming cats that prey on songbirds and decimate wildlife. It is a cruel alternative to euthanasia because many of these cats get injured or diseased and receive no veterinary care.

Animal shelters and rescue agencies in every state fill up after every breeding season with cats and kittens needing homes. This includes those whose owners let them roam free, and then they get lost and have to fend for themselves before being rescued. Two of our rescued cats had been released, in winter, by the Animal Humane Society because they were deemed unadoptable. The AHS calls this its “Return to Field (where found) Community Cat Program,” and its annual reports document 4,374 cats being “returned to field” from October 2014 to June 2019.

I am no stranger to the emotional burden of having to euthanize healthy animals that are unadoptable, which I consider a humane alternative to TNR. But there is an alternative for animal shelters: They can build cat sanctuaries -- group-living indoor habitats with access to enclosed outdoor “catios.” The German animal protection organization ProAnimale, with whom I have consulted for decades, has pioneered such enclosures, much to the benefit of cat welfare, wildlife protection and public health. Cat feces can contain parasites and other pathogens that put people at risk when deposited in their gardens, yards, parks and playgrounds.

I am appealing to all readers with cats to keep them safe indoors, to encourage cat sanctuaries in their communities and to send donations to sanctuaries like the one where Marmalade, the last cat my wife and I rescued, is now in recovery (Furball Farm Pet Sanctuary in Faribault, Minnesota, furballfarmpetsanctuary.com).

At this facility, the recovery rate of would-have-been TNR cats -- deemed unadoptable by animal shelters but instead provided sanctuary at Furball Farm -- is a resounding 85% who were eventually adopted out. The 15% who do not become socialized and adoptable are given permanent sanctuary.

COMMUNITY’S ANALYSIS CONFIRMS: TNR NOT EFFECTIVE

The City of Saratoga Springs, Utah, conducted an analysis on “The Science of Feral Cats“ to help it understand and effectively address feral cat issues in the community. The report was initiated after Best Friends Animal Society called on the city to implement a TNR program. The 100-page report found that “overwhelmingly, science does not support TNR programs as an effective method to reduce feral cat populations,” and that such programs “fail to adequately mitigate the significant threat to public health or alleviate the negative impacts on wildlife that feral and free-roaming cats pose.” (Full story can be found via abcbirds.org.)

DEAR DR. FOX: This is a question for you about a strange thing our dog does. We have a 22-month-old female golden retriever. She has a disturbing habit of wrapping her forelegs around blankets and large pillows, and humping them like a male dog.

We tell her to stop and put the item away, but we just don’t understand these strange actions for a female. Just curious if you’ve seen this before or have any idea what is up with this dog. -- M.M., Medford, Oregon

DEAR M.M.: This is part and parcel of the play repertoire of our canine companions -- also seen in our feline ones, though less often. Certain materials and objects can trigger sex-play in neutered animals regardless of whether they are male or female, indicating a non-hormonal aspect to this behavior.

It is often seen in puppies way before sexual maturity when they are playing with each other and one mounts the other. This indicates a reflex-like element to this behavior of clasping with the forelimbs and executing pelvic thrusts. In adult dogs we see this behavior with un-neutered male dogs mounting neutered male dogs -- which can lead to a fight -- and in neutered dogs of either sex.

There is nothing inherently concerning or “perverted” about this behavior, contrary to comments I often hear; applying our own moral standards on other species is the height of arrogance and ignorance. For more, I suggest reading my book “Dog Body, Dog Mind.”

As for your dog, boredom and a lack of physical activity and opportunity to play with other dogs may be why she is seeking these ways of self-gratifying and relaxing. A more active life outdoors -- especially during this time of the coronavirus pandemic -- is good for all of us, including our animal companions.

(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.)