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One of this year's top comedy's finally has a pet -- and boy, does she have troubles.
ABC's Middle (Wednesday nights at 8:30 ET) has introduced a Basset Hound who developed emphysema after years of living with two chain-smoking elderly aunts.
Frankie, the mom stuck in the "middle" of all the family disasters, takes Doris to her house for a smoke-free environment. Then what? Watch and find out.
Meanwhile, we checked to see if there have been studies done to determine if and how secondhand smoke harms cats and dogs. It doesn't take a health expert to understand the answer is yes.
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A DeLand man, enraged because his wife took his last cigarette, strangled a pet rat to death then refused to stop for deputies who used stop sticks to flatten his car's tires, sheriff's officials said Friday.
Darren Daniels, 22, also grabbed his 20-year-old wife, Kaela Daniels, in the upper chest during the confrontation. The wife escaped Daniels' clutches, deputies said, and ran. She crawled under a fence into some bushes near her apartment complex where she hid for an hour.
Kaela Daniels told deputies that her husband "went nuts" at 1:30 a.m. Thursday after he accused her of taking his last cigarette. He grabbed a white rat from the aquarium, smashed its head against the tank and then strangled it to death.
Darren Daniels, 22, of DeLand who got seriously pissed when his wife smoked the last cigarette.
So he strangled a pet white rat and grabbed his 20-year-old wife during a confrontation, reports the Orlando Sentinel.
Guess that'll show everybody.
His wife got away and hid outside. The poor rat wasn't so lucky. It died.
Daniels is out on bail but faces several charges and animal cruelty may be added. He's out on bail.
But here's some justice. He couldn't smoke in jail.
A dropped cigarette apparently sparked a fire that engulfed a mobile home at an East County trailer park over the weekend, killing a woman inside, authorities reported on Monday.
Karen Hunter, 64, died Sunday evening as flames spread through her residence at the El Capitan Mobile Home Park . . .
Investigators determined that "smoking materials" -- likely a dropped cigarette -- ignited a living-room couch, Zech said. Hunter's friends and neighbors told authorities she was a smoker.
The fire, which also killed Hunter's four pet birds, caused an estimated $75,000 damage to the trailer and its contents.
The woman's cat was missing following the blaze, according to Zech.
Anyone who is both a smoker and a pet owner can do one very important thing to protect the animal's life and his own: Quit smoking. A growing body of research, including the surgeon general's report, shows there are no safe levels of exposure to secondhand smoke for humans or animals. . . .
"While most Americans have been educated about the dangers of smoking to their own bodies and their children's, it is also important that pet owners take action to protect their beloved domestic animals from the dangers of secondhand smoke," said Dr. Cheryl G. Healton, president and CEO of the American Legacy Foundation, the national independent public health foundation dedicated to keeping young people from smoking and providing resources to smokers who want to quit.
"Nicotine from secondhand smoke can affect the nervous systems of cats and dogs," said Dr. Sharon Gwaltney-Brant, medical director of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' Animal Poison Control Center. . . .
The groups hope pet owners who smoke will be motivated to quit once they learn about the dangers to their pets.
Following a complaint by Humane Society International, the European Commission has decided within the last few days to withdraw an EU-funded anti-smoking TV advertisement.
The advert in question, broadcast throughout the European Union, featured a woman in a park with a collared monkey sitting on her shoulder. When she attempts to smoke, the monkey grabs the packet and rips it to shreds.
HSI argued that this advertisement was both highly irresponsible and incompatible with EU animal protection policy. Moreover, the advert suggested that the EU condones the use of exotic animals as pets, thus undermining existing efforts to stamp out the cruel exotic pet trade.
An improperly disposed-of cigarette is being blamed for a fire that happened at a home on South Arlington Avenue early Wednesday, Reno fire officials said.
The occupant of the residence received first-degree burns that covered 15 percent of her body after re-entering the home to attempt to retrieve her pets.
She was not identified.
Secondhand smoke from cigarettes is known to cause health problems in people, but it's also a significant medical concern for animals.
Dogs and cats that are exposed to smoke can develop asthma, respiratory inflammation and respiratory infections. Symptoms include congestion, difficulty breathing, exercise intolerance and coughing. Lung changes can be identified on chest X-rays. Secondhand smoke has also been linked to the development of many types of cancer in animals, including oral, nasal and respiratory neoplasia.
Consumption of tobacco products is toxic for animals. Tobacco leaves, cigars, cigarettes, cigarette butts, chew and any smoking aids containing nicotine such as gum or patches are dangerous. The signs of poisoning occur within an hour of ingestion, and depend upon the size of your pet and the amount of nicotine consumed. One to two cigarettes can be deadly for a dog that weighs 10 pounds or less.
Not to pat ourselves on the back too hard, but it turns out the kind of information we provided in a January article about the effects of secondhand smoke on pets may save some human lives, too.
A study published by the American Veterinary Medical Association today found that pet owners who are informed about the burden their smoking poses for their pets are more likely to quit. The study, conducted by the Henry Ford Health System's Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, surveyed 3,293 adult pet owners.
Within that survey group, 21 percent currently smoked and 27 percent lived with a smoker.
Presented with the facts about secondhand smoke and pets, many of the pet owners said they were ready to change their habits:
One cigarette sparked a fire that caused $25,000 worth of damage to a Palm Bay home. Fire investigators say someone threw away a cigarette in the garage of the home on Johnston Road Sunday morning. (see map) It sparked a fire among gasoline tanks that were being stored in the garage.
Five people were inside the home at the time of the fire and all five made it out of the house safely.
Firefighters successfully revived a small dog and three cats with CPR and the use of pet oxygen masks
It's true! Secondhand smoke is harmful to anyone who is exposed to it, including children, pregnant mothers, adults and even pets. That's because secondhand smoke has been identified to contain more than 4,000 chemicals, 50 of which are known to cause cancer.
Secondhand smoke is the combination of burning smoke from the end of a cigarette, pipe or cigar, and the smoke the smoker exhales. Exposure to secondhand smoke may increase the risk of developing various cancers such as lung, sinus and breast cancer. Other health problems and side effects associated with secondhand smoke include heart disease, respiratory illnesses, and eye and nose irritation. . . .
The truth is, secondhand smoke exposure is harmful to everyone -- adults, children, and pets. That is why, as a preventive measure, it is recommended to avoid secondhand smoke.
For information or help quitting, call the California Smokers' Helpline, 1 (800) NO-BUTTS.
A woman died with her pet dog at her side when a fire started by a cigarette swept through her home in south Belfast, an inquest has heard.
Anita Crooks, 41, who had been drinking heavily as she battled depression, was in bed at the time, coroner Joanne Donnelly heard.
About 28 percent of pet owners who smoke would try to quit if they knew that secondhand smoke endangered their pets, according to recent research.
"Pet owners' attitudes and behaviours related to smoking and second-hand smoke: a pilot study" appeared in the April issue of the journal Tobacco Control. Among the authors is the late Ronald M. Davis, MD, who championed the One Health Initiative when he was president of the American Medical Association.
The researchers, from Henry Ford Health System's Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Detroit, conducted a Web survey of 3,293 adult pet owners. About 21 percent were current smokers, and 27 percent lived with at least one smoker.
Results: Of respondents, 21% were current smokers and 27% of participants lived with at least one smoker. Pet owners who smoke reported that information on the dangers of pet exposure to SHS would motivate them to try to quit smoking (28.4%) and ask the people with whom they live to quit smoking (8.7%) or not to smoke indoors (14.2%). Moreover, non-smoking pet owners who live with smokers said that they would ask the people with whom they live to quit (16.4%) or not smoke indoors (24.2%) if given this information. About 40% of current smokers and 24% of non-smokers living with smokers indicated that they would be interested in receiving information on smoking, quitting, or SHS.
Conclusions: Educational campaigns informing pet owners of the risks of SHS exposure for pets could motivate some owners to quit smoking. It could also motivate these owners and non-smoking owners who cohabit with smokers make their homes smoke-free.
The health effects of second-hand smoke (SHS) among humans are well known.1 Studies have also addressed the effects of SHS on household pets, linking smoke exposure to such diseases as lymphoma in cats2 and nasal cancer3 and lung cancer4 in dogs. Observers have also noted associations between SHS exposure and allergic reactions in dogs; eye disease, respiratory problems and dermatitis in birds; and oral carcinoma in cats.5
As awareness of the human risks posed by SHS can motivate behaviour change among smokers and homeowners, it is plausible that awareness of the effects of SHS on pets could do the same.6 Many tobacco control advocates have attempted to use this potentially motivating information to encourage behaviour change among smokers.7–9 Although we found no formal studies of pet owners’ smoking behaviour in the research literature, it is possible that some pet owners would change their smoking behaviour when informed that it might have a negative impact on their pets.
He and almost a dozen of his support personnel, investigators and deputies, along with other city and county employees, were halfway through their series of tobacco cessation classes.
And they hadn't lost that focused intensity they all brought to the initial session, either. They were still intent on solving this case of how to quit using tobacco.
After the second class, the group received their first prescription for Chantix, a prescription medication used to help people quit smoking. . . .
But just as the effects of smoking are bad on Nugent himself, the effects of his second-hand smoke (also called Environmental Tobacco Smoke or ETS) are dangerous to his family members - and that includes Amber, the Sheriff's bloodhound, if she happens to be around cigarette smoke while with Nugent. . . .
New studies are showing that pets get dosed with poisons from tobacco smoke in two ways: through second-hand smoke and by ingesting the actual smoke particles when they groom themselves, which is being labeled third-hand smoke. . . .
And the licking of things is also a heretofore undetected source of smoke carcinogens for babies, too.
An article in Pediatrics Magazine in the beginning of this year highlighted the risk to pregnant women and babies of third-hand smoke. . . .
An article published in July 2005 in the world-renowned medical journal Lancet indicated that private research conducted by the Philip Morris cigarette company in the 1980s showed that second-hand smoke was highly toxic. Yet the company suppressed the findings during the next two decades.
So the Surgeon General's report was right: there is absolutely no risk-free level of second-hand smoke exposure - to any living thing, especially children, pets and other people living with a smoker.