DEAR READERS: Science-based, factual evidence does not change the mindset of the unreasonable. Many such people still deny our collective contributions to the climate and extinction crises and to related global humanitarian issues, including famine, plagues, pestilence, poverty, war, terrorism and the mass migrations of refugees.

Some religious traditions have caused more conflict and division than peace and unity, as have many current political regimes and ideologies, both capitalistic and militaristic. The media attention being given to the multiple indictments of former President Donald J. Trump is a distraction from Trump's deplorable record of anti-environmental actions when he was in office, which should be kept front and center. He essentially dismembered the Environmental Protection Agency and opened the door for the petrochemical, mining and other extractive and polluting industries, in total disregard of the harm to wildlife, Indigenous peoples and biodiversity.

There have been signs of positive change, however. Last summer, a federal judge "overturned a 2019 Trump administration move to gut the landmark Endangered Species Act, vacating that administration's changes and restoring protections for hundreds of species," as CNN reported at the time -- calling the decision "a win for environmental and conservation groups and climate advocates."

Still, consumer demands, economic uncertainties and an ever-increasing human population see civil society becoming less civil and more violent. The rule of law, social justice, animal rights and eco-environmental ethics are usually dismissed by governments and their dystopia-generating supporters. Our physical and mental health depend upon a healthy environment; the benefits from whatever contact with nature we can grasp have been well documented.

For an excellent review of these multiple benefits, see the 2020 article "Nurtured by Nature" by Kirsten Weir, posted by the American Psychological Association (apa.org/monitor/2020/04/nurtured-nature). For my own review of this subject, see Chapter 12 of my book "Animals and Nature First."

Destroying and polluting nature, as we continue to do, should be criminalized as an indirect crime against humanity. There is a glimmer of hope in a recent judicial decision.

On Aug. 14, District Court Judge Kathy Seeley ruled in favor of young environmental activists "who said state agencies were violating their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by allowing fossil fuel development without considering its effect on the climate," reported PBS.org.

Per Nature.com, "Attorney Julia Olson, who represented the group of young plaintiffs, calls it a 'truly historic' win that could pave the way for a court-ordered shift away from fossil fuels nationwide."

"We heard from many of our experts that it was such an empowering experience to be able to present the science in the court of law," said Olson.

While the ruling is likely to be overturned on appeal, the stage is being set for confrontation and change in the name of reducing the severity of, and enhancing our ability to adapt to, climate change.

The momentum of "green" politics is increasing, literally, with the greening of urban environments. A study published in The Lancet in January theorized that increasing tree cover in European cities to 30% could cool temperatures sufficiently to potentially prevent more than 2,600 premature deaths each summer. It could also help to mitigate air pollution, reduce noise pollution and improve mental health. Combining tree planting with other strategies, such as changing surface materials, could maximize the cooling benefits in cities.

AG FAIRS: ZOONOTIC DISEASE HOT SPOTS

As covered in more detail in one of my recent columns, agriculture shows and fairs are potential zoonotic disease hot spots, especially for swine flu. According to research from Ohio State University, at least one pig at 25% of agriculture fairs is carrying swine flu. In 2012 alone, the disease jumped from pigs to people during at least seven different Ohio fairs.

Some fairs have taken steps to prevent zoonotic disease transmission, but my advice is to just keep away from such exhibits.

DOGS LIVE LONGER WHEN GIVEN TIME WITH OTHER DOGS

Being able to socialize with other dogs is a key factor to longevity, according to an Arizona State University study by the Dog Aging Project, published in Evolution, Medicine & Public Health. The study analyzed data from more than 21,000 dogs and concluded that the companionship of other dogs was the factor most correlated to good health -- surpassing family finances, the age of their owners and the presence of children in the home. "Animals with stronger social relationships live longer, healthier lives," said Noah Snyder-Mackler, lead author of the study.

I would add a note of caution. Many dogs, including our rescued dog Kota, detest local dog parks, which are often filled with rough-playing, aggressive and poorly supervised dogs. A better option may be a doggie play group with just a few well-supervised dogs who are neither afraid nor aggressive. All dogs should be given up-to-date vaccinations (or at least titer-immunity determinations) before admittance, along with a wellness checkup and tests for external parasites.

(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: I appreciate you writing about animal welfare and animal rights issues. I have been involved in animal protection for the past 20 years, and I support several nonprofit organizations, local and national, that help animals. But despite all these efforts, I feel that little progress has been made, just like in human rights here in the U.S. and in many other countries. What is your opinion? -- R.E., Washington, D.C.

DEAR R.E.: The history of humans' relationships with animals encompasses enslavement, extermination, consumption, companionship and devotion.

Extermination has unforeseen consequences, as exemplified by malaria and dengue fever being spread by mosquitoes that have developed resistance to insecticides. These chemicals have caused collateral damage, killing off the natural predators of mosquitoes and making us ill in countless ways.

Consumption of animals, on the scale evident today, contributes to the climate and extinction crises and to a spectrum of human diseases, including some forms of cancer.

A more judicious use of safe vaccines, antibiotics and pesticides is called for, along with bioremediation (including soil and gut microbiome restoration) and biocontrol (as by introducing specific pathogens or predators to control crop pests and invasive species). This is surely the path of least harm to ourselves, to the environment and to natural biodiversity.

Our prejudice, fear and hatred toward certain animals -- and toward our own kind -- break the circle of life. It has been long held by some religious authorities that we have some God-given dominion over the Earth, and that animals were "created for man's use," to quote one former pope. But it is increasingly evident that it is enlightened self-interest to treat animals with compassion and to support animals' basic rights, including freedom from pain and fear, and to provide conditions that satisfy their physical, social and emotional needs.

In a truly civilized society of justice for all, living by the golden rule (of treating others as we would have them treat us) would be extended to all our animal relationships, including those we fear and those that are dangerous and/or vectors of disease. The physician's Hippocratic injunction, "First do no harm," is the same as the bioethical principle of ahimsa -- non-harming -- and should be applicable to all our relationships with other living organisms.

Having respect for all living beings would be an evolutionary step forward for humankind. I see some glimmers of hope since the veterinary profession, notably in the U.K., is calling for more concerted professional involvement in advocating for animal rights, and in the progressive One Health movement that links our own health and well-being with how well we treat animals and the environment.

ELON MUSK'S FUNDING OF ANIMAL BRAIN EXPERIMENTS

From the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine:

"Since 2017, Elon Musk's company Neuralink has subjected animals -- including monkeys, pigs, rats and sheep -- to invasive, often deadly, brain experiments. Through 2020, the company paid $1.4 million to the University of California, Davis, to use its facilities, where experimenters removed portions of monkeys' skulls to implant electrodes in the animals' brains as part of Neuralink's development of a 'brain-machine interface.' Only in 2022, following a public records lawsuit by the Physicians Committee, did the troubling details of these experiments begin to come to light. The company is still conducting experiments on animals at its facilities in California and Texas."

For details, see "Elon Musk's Cruel Brain Experiments" at pcrm.org.

In my opinion, Musk would do better spending his money in addressing the widespread empathy-deficit disorder.

FLEA ALERT: KEEP CATS INDOORS!

Three people in California's Los Angeles County died last year of flea-borne typhus, according to a report in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, and 171 cases of typhus in the county were reported. Rising populations of cat fleas on pets and free-roaming animals or rising rodent populations in urban and suburban areas may be increasing typhus risk. Pet owners should use a veterinarian-approved flea control product, according to the report. (Full story: Los Angeles Times, Aug. 3)

Owned cats that are allowed to roam free are a main source of flea infestations. They pick up these ectoparasites outdoors and bring them into their homes. Fleas can also carry other diseases, including plague. So keep your cats indoors!

(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 sent this letter to my local newspaper. It was never published, because ruffling the feathers and twisting the tails of the poultry and livestock industries is a cultural taboo, but I urge all states to consider the proposal within. It is an idea that I, and other veterinarians and public health experts, have been calling for for several years.

My letter read as follows:

"As a veterinarian -- and concerned humanitarian -- I urge the Minnesota State Fair to put an end to all live animal exhibits for public health and humane reasons. An article by New York Times reporter Emily Anthes, which ran in the Star Tribune in August under the headline 'Fertile Vector,' underscores the risk of exhibited pigs transmitting the influenza virus to visitors. This is one of several so-called zoonotic diseases that farmed animals, including poultry, can transmit to humans, and which routine sanitation measures may fail to control when people enter the same airspace where the animals are penned.

"There is also the issue of animal stress and suffering under conditions of high temperatures and humidity while being held for exhibition, and during transportation to and from agricultural shows and state fairs. Surely, Minnesota could take the lead and put an end to all such events. Public health and animal welfare should not continue to be trumped by animal industry interests."

Additional support comes from these reports:

-- An exhibitor at this year's Oakland County Fair in Davisburg, Michigan, is presumed positive for swine flu, and county health department representatives are contacting other exhibitors to see whether they or their families also may have been infected. (Full story: MLive.com, July 27)

-- From the abstract of one review of this issue: "We detected 370 separate human-to-swine spillovers, with the frequency of interspecies transmission increasing when the burden of influenza A virus (IAV) was highest in the human population. ... These data suggest that controlling IAV infection in humans working with swine can minimize spillover into pigs, reduce resulting genetic diversity of IAV in pigs, and proactively reduce the potential for swine-to-human transmission of IAV with zoonotic potential." (Full study: A. Markin, et al: "Reverse-zoonoses of 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza A viruses and evolution in United States swine results in viruses with zoonotic potential," PLOS Pathogens, July 27, 2023)

Following this same line of evidential concern, all live animal markets and shows should be closed. At the very least, they should be limited in size and frequency, and take place under full veterinary, public health and animal welfare surveillance.

For similar reasons, all traffic and trade in live animals, domesticated and wild, should be prohibited except for legitimate conservation and animal health purposes. The lesson from the live-animal "wet" markets in Wuhan, China -- where the COVID-19 global pandemic is thought to have originated -- is warning enough.

DEAR DR. FOX: I came across one of your articles when I was searching for advice for my cat with hyperesthesia syndrome. Can you please help me in figuring out what to feed him and how to treat him?

The vet had him on gabapentin, but I noticed it really didn't work well, and once it wore off, his episodes were worse and he needed MORE gabapentin. Every time I'd try to administer it to him, he made it clear that he did not want it. I think it made him feel yucky. He only took it for about 2 1/2 months, and he has been off all medicines for about that long now.

I notice he sleeps a lot, is not as active and doesn't want to eat as much as he used to. It breaks my heart. To see him experience these terrible episodes, especially when it's a really bad one, is killing me. -- P.S.P., Victorville, California

DEAR P.S.P.: Diagnosing the cause of a cat's hyperesthesia -- a condition of extreme sensitivity of the skin -- can be challenging because several factors may be involved. For instance, some cats just do not like to be touched. Our rescued cat, Fanny, can only be petted when she is on the bed and ready to sleep, and occasionally when she is eating. At other times, she avoids hand contact and her skin shivers if touched.

Some horripilation (hairs standing on end, "goosebumps") can be anxiety-driven, but also may represent a form of epilepsy or seizure in some cats. Gabapentin can help, but as you experienced, the benefit may be temporary. The attending veterinarian may consider treating your cat with a psychotropic medication such as alprazolam or buspirone, which can take some weeks to become effective.

The veterinarian should also rule out other possible contributing factors, such as blocked anal glands; chronic physical pain, particularly along the back; flea-bite allergies; and food allergies/intolerances, especially to fish. I would begin by eliminating all fish from your cat's diet, but give him some marine algae for the much-needed anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids.

Paradoxically, the stimulating effects of catnip can also be sedating. Giving your cat a pinch, especially in the evening, may help, as may crushing 1 mg of melatonin in her favorite food at bedtime.

One remote possible cause is a parasitic infestation that has gone to the brain, such as toxoplasmosis, heartworm or roundworms. So if all else fails, have your veterinarian consider trying an antiparasitic medication.

(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.)