Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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 Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 1:20 am Post subject: 1 in 2 British cats and dogs overweight |
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/20/animalwelfare.animalbehaviour
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Junk food diet fuels epidemic of pet obesity
Calls for owners to face prosecution for cruelty as number of overweight animals hits half a million
Pet owners in Britain are feeding their animals an astonishing diet of junk food, including scones, chocolate, pizza and burgers, a charity has revealed.
The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals warned that the trend is fuelling an epidemic of over-sized pets, ranging from dogs and cats to hamsters, gerbils, rats, rabbits and budgies. The charity estimated that over the past year alone there has been a 10 per cent rise in the number of overweight animals - weighing in at half a million pets.
Animals that pile on the pounds are increasingly suffering from diseases associated with obesity in humans: from poor energy levels and breathing problems to painful and sometimes fatal illnesses such as arthritis, asthma, diabetes, liver and heart disease and breeding problems. The huge rise in health problems has led to growing calls for pet owners to face prosecution for cruelty if a fat animal is not made to slim down.
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Last year two brothers were convicted of causing unnecessary suffering after allowing their pet labrador to become 'grossly' overweight. The RSPCA took Rusty away from Derek Benton, 62, and his 53-year-old brother, David, after finding that he weighed 74.2kg. The dog has since lost more than 30kg and been returned to his owners.
In a previous case RSPCA inspectors found a dog so grossly fat that it could not move out of its own urine. The owner, a pensioner, was banned from keeping pets for life after admitting cruelty for overfeeding his dog with a diet that included cooked English breakfasts. Then there was a 10-year-old cat called Ginger that was so fat she could not get through a cat-flap. |
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