DEAR DR. FOX: I appreciated your article on the multiple harms of glyphosate. Here are two references I found that will interest you:

“Could Glyphosate and Glyphosate-Based Herbicides Be Associated With Increased Thyroid Diseases Worldwide?” by Renata Romano et al., published in Frontiers in Endocrinology in 2021.

“Hypothesis: Glyphosate-Based Herbicides Can Increase Risk of Hematopoietic Malignancies Through Extended Persistence in Bone” by Charles Benbrook et al., published in Environmental Sciences Europe in 2025. -- R.E, Wales, U.K.

DEAR R.E.: Nutrition and cognition are linked via the gut-brain axis. An unhealthy gut microbiome, especially from consuming ultra-processed foods, can have multiple effects on neural development and learning ability, and can even be associated with early onset dementia.

RISKS OF GLYPHOSATE-RESISTANT FEED FOR HORSES

Many crops and their byproducts have been genetically engineered to resist glyphosate, the active ingredient in Bayer/Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide. All horse owners should be aware because of the documented health risks to horses.

Per WildFedHorse.com: "The most common horse feed ingredients sprayed with glyphosate include: alfalfa (especially GMO alfalfa), soybeans, corn, wheat (sometimes sprayed pre-harvest to dry the crop, known as desiccation), beet pulp, canola meal, oats and barley (if not organic or non-GMO certified). Hay crops like timothy and orchard grass are less commonly sprayed, but may still contain drift or soil-based residues if grown conventionally near glyphosate-treated areas."

Since glyphosate chelates (binds) some essential minerals, the skeletal development of foals may be impaired, which could then contribute to fractures during training and racing. Buying horse feed that is Organically Certified is a responsible decision.

Horse owners and feed producers are catching on to the health and environmental benefits of the self-seeding perennial crop sainfoin, a deep-rooted, drought-resistant plant. Sainfoin can serve as a cover crop, improve soil health and provide nutrition for bees. It also has the potential to be a superfood for equines!

Per Kentucky Equine Research (ker.com): “Due to the global rise in parasite resistance to chemical dewormers, researchers are looking at alternatives. One chemical-free approach to deworming involves the legume sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia), which reduces fecal egg shedding of small strongyles and decreases larval motility.”

Small companion animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, gerbils and hamsters benefit from some alfalfa hay or pellets, but make sure these plant products have not been treated with glyphosate.

UNRAVELING DOGS’ ANCESTRY

Please see this excerpt from the summary of a recently published study:

“Almost two-thirds of breed dogs have wolf ancestry within their nuclear genome from admixture that occurred nearly a thousand generations ago, and all analyzed free-ranging dog genomes carry some ancient wolf ancestry. Wolf ancestry correlates with traits like size, function, and personality characteristics. Altogether, the majority of dogs today have low, but detectable, levels of post-domestication wolf ancestry that has shaped their evolution and conferred unique advantages to their survival in diverse human environments.” (Full study: “A legacy of genetic entanglement with wolves shapes modern dogs” by Audrey Lin et al., published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S. in 2025.)

While this is stellar research that supports the widely held view that the domestic dog’s ancestor is the wolf, I do not accept that view, having raised and studied various wild and domesticated canids. Rather, I believe there were aboriginal landrace varieties of a species of wild bush dogs, which were taken from local forests and domesticated. These include the African basenji and the New Guinea singing dog. As people migrated, so did these early dogs. They were dispersed to other communities and cultures, where some were cross-bred with wolves.

Many of the dogs in remote tribal settlements in South India that I helped treat (at the animal refuge and hospital of my late wife, Deanna Krantz) were of a distinctive landrace type -- quite like those in Tanzania, the larger Australian dingo and the Carolina dog, also known as the American dingo.

For more details about the native dogs in India, see Deanna’s and my book, “India’s Animals: Healing the Sacred and The Suffering.”

(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 know you’ve studied wolf behavior, so the recent articles and videos about a wolf using "tools" to open a crab trap will come as no surprise. -- B.C.S., Nassau, Bahamas

DEAR B.C.S.: Several newspapers and other media outlets have posted this report of a wolf “using tools” -- bringing a fishing float to the shore, then pulling on the rope to get the attached crab trap, which she broke open and ate the contents. (For those who have not heard about it, see doi.org/10.1002/ece3.72348.)

In my (now out-of-print book) “Superdog: Raising the Perfect Canine Companion,” I published a photograph of my dog Benji doing something very similar to this wolf. I placed a stick tied to a wire attached to a plate of food near the outside of his outdoor pen. He very quickly reached under the door of the pen with his front paws, where there was a 6-inch gap, and pulled the stick toward himself -- dragging the plate into the pen to consume its contents. Insightful tool use, indeed!

Dr. Friederike Range, wolf researcher and associate professor at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, has demonstrated how socialized wolves will work in pairs to pull separate ropes at the same time to get a food reward. Pairs of dogs, however, did not do as well. Dogs did better when paired with a person, indicating another effect of domestication!

Several readers have told me about their dogs pushing a stool toward a table or kitchen counter, then jumping up on it to reach whatever was drawing their attention -- another instance of insightful, tool-using behavior. Dogs learning how to open a refrigerator door is another. For a deeper dive into dog cognition, see my book "Dog Body, Dog Mind."

Tool use is also evident in some dexterous cats, who pull on light-switch cords and interact with other gadgets around the house. I learned of one who activated an electric can-opener when hungry, and another who gave her owner a massive water bill by repeatedly flushing the toilet!

THE SUPER-WILD DOGS: COYOTES AND GOLDEN JACKALS

Coyotes originated in the open grasslands and deserts of Mexico and central North America, but are now native to all North and Central America, with a range stretching from Alaska to Panama. Since the early 1900s, due to factors like human agriculture and the removal of larger predators like wolves, coyotes' expansion was inevitable.

Similarly, the golden jackal population in Europe is rapidly expanding, moving from its traditional Balkan and Mediterranean range into central, northern and western Europe. This expansion, which has been ongoing since the late 1980s, is attributed to factors like the decline of wolves and the jackal’s adaptability to diverse habitats.

Jackal hunting is legal in Austria, Croatia, Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia. Golden jackals are a protected species in Germany, but exceptions are made for culling in special cases, such as when they are confirmed to have killed livestock. In Vienna, the golden jackal is a strictly protected species, making any form of killing or capturing illegal.

In America, it is, shamefully, open season for coyotes across the country. There are even coyote-killing contests. All trapping and killing for recreational and commercial purposes should be prohibited, and humane capture limited to wildlife research and conservation.

For details and information about how to help prevent such unconscionable slaughter, visit ProjectCoyote.org.

(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: A mother's diet during pregnancy can affect various aspect of the baby's development. One 2020 review looked for possible connections between nutrients and the development of autism. From the article's abstract:

"Maternal diet during pregnancy is important for child neurodevelopment. We reviewed 36 studies examining maternal diet and (autism) and found that prenatal vitamin/multivitamin use and adequate intake of folic acid and vitamin D were each associated with lower likelihood of having a child with (autism). Future studies on these and other dietary factors are needed to better understand the role of maternal diet." (Full study: "Maternal Dietary Factors and the Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review of Existing Evidence" by Caichen Zhong et al., published in Autism Research in 2020.)

Another study, this one published in 2018, "provided preliminary evidence that maternal unbalanced dietary patterns may be a risk factor for (autism), and supplementation of calcium during pregnancy preparation may be inversely associated with (autism) in offspring." (Full study: "Maternal dietary patterns, supplement intake and autism spectrum disorders: A preliminary case-control study" by Ya-Min Li et al., published in Medicine/Baltimore in 2018.)

A more recent study states: "Prenatal diet may be causally related to autism; however, findings are inconsistent, with a limited body of research based on small sample sizes and retrospective study designs." (Full study: "Healthy prenatal dietary pattern and offspring autism" by Catherine Friel et al., published in JAMA Network Open in 2024.)

More research is needed, but it seems clear that the less processed food we consume, and the more organically certified ingredients we choose, the better. Essential nutrients are lost in some forms of processing, and inflammatory -- potentially carcinogenic -- compounds can be created. These processing byproducts, in combination with pesticide residues, also have documented adverse health consequences.

Pesticide contamination and essential mineral deficiencies can be caused by the herbicide glyphosate. Bayer/Monsanto’s glyphosate blocks plants’ uptake of various minerals -- primarily cationic nutrients like calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, lithium and zinc -- by binding to them and forming stable, insoluble complexes. It also affects other minerals like copper, phosphorus and boron.

This herbicide is used on virtually all commodity crops used by the processed food and beverage industries. It has contributed to the demise of monarch butterflies and entire populations of insects and birds; it is a recognized carcinogen and endocrine disruptor.

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers found glyphosate in 99% of the pregnant women they observed in the Midwest. In their study, higher glyphosate levels were associated with lower birth weight and may also lead to higher neonatal intensive care unit admission risk. (Full study: "Glyphosate exposure in early pregnancy and reduced fetal growth: A prospective observational study of high-risk pregnancies" by Roy Gerona et al., published in Environmental Health in 2022.)

In addition to genetic and epigenetic considerations in the etiology of autism, the broader subject of dietary and nutrient deficiency needs to be more prevalent on the public health agenda. For one of many studies documenting the health benefits of vegetarianism -- which also saves medical costs -- see "Vegetarian diets in the Adventist Health Study 2: a review of initial published findings" by Michael Orlich and Gary Fraser, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2014.

As I have underscored repeatedly in this column, adopting a balanced, plant-based diet, fortified as needed with minerals, vitamins and prebiotics, is good for our overall health. It will also help reduce our collective contribution to climate change. The productions of beef, dairy, pork and poultry are major climate concerns and pose many animal welfare issues. These industries exacerbate the loss of biodiversity, groundwater pollution and public health risks from antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.

(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.)