DEAR READERS: Bill Neidjie was an aboriginal elder and spokesman for the Bunitj clan of Australia’s Northern Territory, and I quoted him in my 1996 book “The Boundless Circle: Caring for Creatures and Creation.” His words give us some insight into the kind of pan-empathy that is called for in planetary stewardship, healing and restoration:

“If you feel sore -- headache, sore body -- that mean somebody killing tree or grass,” he said. “You feel because your body in that tree or earth. Nobody can tell you. You got to feel it yourself. ... Tree might get sick ... you feel it.”

Through such empathy -- which calls for endurance, courage, self-sacrifice, bioethics and sound science -- humankind may begin the Great Healing: restoring the One Health of people, animals, plants and the environment.

One day, in the Forever, perhaps we will be able to hear the songs of myriads of insects in the jungle night and the dawn choruses and choirs of waking birds. In such restored and protected glory, we may walk in humility and grace and be worthy of our self-anointed title of Homo sapiens -- “man the wise.” Or will it be a virtual world devoid of virtue? One with desecrated, polluted, chemical wastelands of genetically engineered agribusiness crops feeding an electronically wired subspecies, Homo technos -- “technocentric man”?

I prefer the biocentric, but the choice and fate of future generations is ours to make: to listen to the Earth, and care, or not. No democracy or civilization can function long if it is not first and foremost biocentric. We must feel for the trees like Bill Neidjie and practice the wisdom of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of the environment, who said, “It is in giving that we receive.”

The challenge to modern civilization, as it was for past ones that failed, is to put the principles of One Health into politics and into practice. This includes respect for the land and all who dwell therein -- plant and animal -- because creating dysbiosis leads to dystopia and dysphoria. Indeed, many find euphoria in the living presence of a natural ecosystem, an ancient tree or a beloved dog. Animals and nature can heal us, as I detail in my book “Animals and Nature First,” but not if we do not care for them.

We must break away from our virtually unbroken human history of violence against the natural order, as well as against our own kind and other species. We all, ultimately, suffer the consequences: The common good and the good of the Commons are inseparable.

WILDLIFE TRADE, TRAFFIC AND FARMING MUST END

Wildlife trade and exotic animal farming put the world at risk for zoonotic disease pandemics and should be stopped, according to animal disease experts such as Wildlife Conservation Society Chief Veterinarian Christian Walzer. China restricted wildlife trade and farming after COVID-19 spread worldwide, but mink and raccoon dog farms are still allowed, and international gangs continue to traffic wildlife. (Full story: Reuters, 4/1)

DEAR DR. FOX: We are all saddened by the fact that we generally outlive our dogs. But what is sadder still is when our dogs outlive us.

I’m helping a friend look at adoptable dogs online, and many old dogs are available because someone died or got too sick to care for them. It breaks my heart to think of those good dogs having had so many years of safe and stable homes, and then having to start all over in their declining years -- in a world where everyone wants a puppy or a young dog. As I am in my retirement years and have old dogs, this strikes close to home for me.

Please encourage people to make provisions for their dogs in case of their death or disability, and, when adopting, to give those senior dogs a second look. Think twice before adopting a dog who is young enough to outlive you. Sometimes, the best choice might be an older dog. I hope you’ll address this in your column. -- M.D., Springfield, Missouri

DEAR M.D.: Addressed herewith! Many older dogs are in need of homes, if you check around local shelters and dog rescue organizations. I strongly advocate adopting all such dogs with a known history and veterinary records -- because of possible ongoing health issues -- after a through wellness examination.

A great advantage of adopting an older dog is that their temperament/personality is fully developed, and they are generally leash-trained and housebroken, so you have less work to do and fewer “growing pains” as you would with a puppy. I advise all ambulatory retirees to consider adopting an easygoing, easy-to-handle, affection-seeking older dog for company that will get them outdoors for some regular walks.

I call my dog Kota my “good medicine dog.” For many, the company of dogs is far more effective than taking antidepressant and antianxiety drugs, and can help lower blood pressure as well!

(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: My cat passed away a few weeks ago. She had been drinking lots of water, and the vet wanted us to measure how much, but I found that difficult and didn’t follow through. Everything else seemed OK, except she would occasionally vomit if she ate too fast.

She ate canned cat food, mostly the fish kinds, though she would usually just eat the gravy and very little fish. I was wasting a lot of food. I would rotate between the turkey and salmon varieties of the more expensive brands, plus smaller cans of different kind of grilled fish with gravy.

One day, I accidentally picked up several cans of the beef kind. I had never tried her on beef, but I gave her a small amount of it. I figured she could handle a little bit. She loved it and ate it, gravy and all, immediately. I was so happy to see her enjoy her food and eat the whole thing that I let her eat the rest of the small can without any gradual transition from the fish. A couple of days later, in the middle of the night, she became very ill. My husband took her to the emergency vet hospital, but she died on the way.

My question is: Did I kill my cat by feeding her beef without slowly transitioning from fish? And do you think feeding her mostly fish could have raised her mercury levels too high?

I am so sorry I didn’t do a better job of taking care of her. I have only been a cat parent when they choose me, and several have. Now I am living with regret, and am asking you to please help me understand what might have happened. We didn’t do an autopsy, so there is no way to know for sure. -- C.T., Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

DEAR C.T.: I am so sorry about the loss of your cat. She most likely had chronic kidney disease, which is why she was drinking so much water, possibly complicated by diabetes.

Regarding her diet: Many cats do not like fish, and tuna should be avoided since it is high in brain- and kidney-damaging mercury. I doubt this was an acute allergic reaction to beef. Most likely, her kidneys could not handle the high protein load from the beef she ate, which lead to uremic poisoning. It is unfortunate that the veterinarian did not test your cat’s kidney function early on, and put her on a special renal diet to avoid this health crisis.

Do not blame yourself. You did your best for your beloved feline companion.

DEAR DR. FOX: Scott Loss and I mentioned you in our article in Tulsa Pets Magazine, which refuted a prior article that had supported TNR (trap, neuter, release). I wanted to share the article with you: 4legspublishing.com/magazines/TulsaPets-Magazine-March-2021/14/

Thanks for all your continued great work on behalf of animal welfare! How is the cat sanctuary project going? -- P.G., Tulsa, Oklahoma

DEAR P.G.: You wrote an excellent article in this very beautiful and informative publication. I wish every large city could have such publications to educate residents about dogs, cats, wildlife and “pest” issues.

I will send your letter on to Julie Marvets, who is building a larger cat sanctuary in Minnesota (furballfarmpetsanctuary.com), effectively re-homing over 80% of cats that had been released by TNR-practicing animal shelters. I am also sending it to local leaders in the TRE movement -- trap, neuter, enclose -- which works in opposition to the annual release of some 1,000 cats by shelters and animal societies here in our area of Minnesota.

(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: Making America “green,” with clean air, clean water and safe, nutritious food for all, calls for government administrations that do not roll back protective rules and regulations, allowing industries to pollute our environment and harm our health. There is no lack of evidence of linkages between environmental pollutants and a host of diseases. All should determine if their worldview and actions cause more harm than good beyond the narrow circle of their vested interests and investors.

America can be great again, but not until individual liberties are coupled with individual and corporate responsibility for environmental protection, conservation, restoration, animal rights and related public health. We especially need to make international trade “green.” America should not, for instance, be importing beef from Brazil if that country is destroying the Amazon forest to raise cattle and livestock feed.

Here are some critical issues that call for international collaboration to arrest climate change and loss of biodiversity, which imperil our own future and quality of life on Earth.

-- Our forests are the main “carbon sinks” that absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide and give off life-sustaining oxygen. Warming temperatures are fueling the expansion of pine and spruce beetle outbreaks across North America, Europe and Siberia, ravaging tens of thousands of square miles of woodlands. Scientists warn that some forest ecosystems may never recover.

-- Because pesticides leach into groundwater and eventually into lakes and rivers, and are also lifted into the air in dust particles, they tend to spread to remote regions. This is why neonicotinoids -- banned in Europe, and implicated in causing birth defects in deer, birds and other animals -- have been found in deer throughout Minnesota and other states. These pesticides are used on commodity crops like corn and soybeans for animal feed and for export, and are responsible for the poisoning and decline of some birds and other insectivores, as well as many beneficial insects -- including pollinators. Insects most likely to survive are those whose larvae are protected inside the trees: the bark beetles. Millions of acres of dead and dying forests mean more devastating forest fires and more air pollution.

-- Particulate air pollution comes, especially, from the burning of fossil fuels. According to the EPA, this pollution causes early death (from both short-term and long-term exposure); cardiovascular harm (heart attacks, strokes, heart disease, congestive heart failure); respiratory harm (worsened asthma, worsened COPD, inflammation); may cause cancer and reproductive and developmental harm; and cause inflammatory and degenerative changes in brain, pancreatic and other organ functions.

-- Polluted cities mean less sunlight and solar-sourced vitamin D for inhabitants, which can increase their susceptibility to infection. So-called philanthropist Bill Gates is promoting another global “solution” that may cause far more harm than good by blocking UV light: He is now funding research proposing millions of tons of chalk dust be spread in the upper atmosphere to shade the Earth from the sun.

-- Exposure to DNA-damaging and immunosuppressing electropollution by telecommunication and other devices emitting nonionizing radiation and electromagnetic fields of varying intensity put people at risk where they live and work. 5G is of particular concern -- it is close to microwave cooking energy and is documented to kill insects.

-- The COVID-19 pandemic pales before the enormity of the issue of plastic pollution. Plastics are burned in many countries, releasing cancer- and birth defect-causing, lung- and brain-damaging dioxins and other chemicals into the air that eventually settle on the crops we eat and the waters we drink. Plastics in our oceans break down into microparticles, and are in the fish we eat, the water we drink and air we breathe, along with toxic chemicals that adhere to these microparticles.

Scientists have linked ocean microplastics with declines in ocean phytoplankton, which are a major source of atmospheric oxygen and a “sink” for absorbing carbon dioxide -- ecological services similar to what our declining forests provide for all life on planet Earth. Phytoplankton -- along with zooplankton, which are also harmed by microplastics -- are the foundation of the marine food chain, the other end of which is threatened by overfishing. A huge amount of carbon stored at the bottom of the ocean is released every year as massive fishing nets are dragged along the sea bed, whirling up marine sediment. Scientists estimate that carbon dioxide emissions from bottom-trawling amounts to 1 billion tons per year, on average -- exceeding carbon emissions from global air travel.

The COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic socioeconomic recovery should not distract us from the urgency of addressing the above interconnected issues in order to secure some quality of life for whatever generations are to inherit this Earth.

(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.)