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- Denis Giles
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Three years ago I wrote about bees vanishing from the world – a process that started in 2006. The idea of extinction being so close – the vanishing of bees means the end of the pollination of most plants – is so horrific, that most governments, like ours with its useless animal husbandry and agriculture ministry, have refused to even acknowledge this catastrophe.
Now, USA’s Department of Agriculture Scientists have announced that pesticides, fungicides and malnutrition are the official causes. The USA lost 33% of its bee colonies just last year alone. “We’re getting closer and closer to the point where we don’t have enough bees in this country to meet pollination demands,” said entomologist Dennis vanEngelstorp of the University of Maryland, who led the survey documenting the declines. This means the nation’s food security is at severe risk.
The honeybee shortage came to a head in March this year in California, when there were barely enough bees to pollinate the almond crop. Who knows what will happen next year – but, in every likelihood, almonds might just disappear. Along with everything else. Every third food you consume has been directly or indirectly pollinated by bees.
The bees are dying in Europe as well. And in Asia. India has barely any left. Mangoes, apples, bananas, pomegranates, baingan, bhindi… say goodbye to all your fruit and vegetables. No, you will not be able to live on cereals and meat because grain is also pollinated by bees and to create one kilo of meat, the animal has to feed on 11 kilos of greens – which are pollinated by bees.
The main culprits are a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids. These were developed in the 1990s, rushed to market by multinational companies, bought eagerly by third world politicians and bureaucrats with minimal and misleading studies of potential harm, and now have the world’s most-used pesticides. The pesticide, which was supposed to be used to increase the crops and alleviate hunger, is now destroying the world. And still governments will not ban them.
Neonicotinoids are a class of insecticides chemically related to nicotine. Developed in the 1980s by Shell and the 1990s by Bayer. Imidacloprid is currently the most widely used insecticide in the world – one quarter of all global insecticide sales-, applied to soil, seed, timber, cereals, cotton, grain, legumes, potatoes, rice, turf and vegetables. It is followed closely by Clothianidin and Thiamethoxam, invented in 2000. Currently, all corn in the USA is treated with one of these two insecticides, as is soyabean. Clothianidin is one of the most toxic substances known for honey bees.
Within 10 years the roof is caving in on the world. In July 2010, a Dutch toxicologist authored and published a book called "A Disaster in the Making" exploring the impact of neonicotinoids on the immune system of bees. In 2009 a documentary “Vanishing of the Bees” suggested neonicotinoid pesticides as the culprit. In 2012, several peer-reviewed independent studies were published showing that neonicotinoids were killing the bees. Their review concluded, "A high acute risk to honey bees was identified from exposure via dust drift for the seed treatment uses in maize, oilseed rape and cereals. A high acute risk was also identified from exposure via residues in nectar and/or pollen." A two-year study published in 2012 showed the presence of two neonicotinoid insecticides, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, in bees found dead in and around hives situated near agricultural fields. Other bees at the hives exhibited tremors, uncoordinated movement and convulsions, all signs of insecticide poisoning. The insecticides were also consistently found at low levels in soil — up to two years after treated seed was planted — on nearby wild flowers and in corn pollen gathered by the bees.
Researchers found 121 different pesticides in honeybee hives. On average, each hive contained between 6 - 36.
In January 2013, the European Food Safety Authority stated that neonicotinoids pose an unacceptably high risk to bees, and that the industry-sponsored science upon which regulatory agencies' claims of safety relied on may have been severely flawed. This is not the first time that multinationals have lied in order to get their products into the market – the tobacco industry has done it for years. The UK Parliament has asked manufacturer Bayer Cropscience to explain the discrepancies in the evidences they had submitted about the safety of these pesticides.
In March 2013, the US government Environmental Protection Agency was sued by a coalition of beekeepers and sustainable agriculture lobbies who accused the agency of performing inadequate toxicity evaluations and allowing registration of the pesticides on insufficient industry studies. In March 2013, the American Bird Conservancy published a review of 200 studies on neonicotinoids including secret industry research obtained through the US Freedom of Information Act and called for a ban on neonicotinoidse because of their toxicity to birds, aquatic invertebrates, and other wildlife.
On April 29, 2013, the European Union passed a two-year ban on neonicotinoid insecticides, Temporary suspensions had previously been enacted in France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland based on studies showing that bee losses were correlated with the application of seeds treated with these compounds; Italy also based its decision on the known acute toxicity of these compounds to pollinators.
The US EPA is now reviewing the safety of clothianidin, thiamethoxam and Imidacloprid and other neonicotinoids Acetamiprid, Dinotefuran, Nitenpyram, Thiacloprid. But the results will be out in 2017 or after – probably too late for the bees and us. Even if a ban were to come in, it takes 4 years for these pesticides to degrade. And if they have got into the ground water, then a ban is irrelevant.
Predictably, pesticide companies have fought the restrictions, arguing that neonicotinoids are unfairly blamed. Bayer says the criticisms lack solid evidence. “This report relies on theoretical calculations and exposure estimates that differ from accepted risk assessment methodologies, while disregarding relevant data that are at odds with its claims,” the company said in a statement.
We will have to rethink our policy on pesticides very quickly. The honeybee catastrophe is not a stand alone. Other pollinator species such as butterflies, birds and insects will disappear, long before their absence is noticed. The honeybees are simply the canary in the mine.
Researchers have found widespread evidence of neonicotinoids spreading beyond their crop targets. Seeds used to grow crops like corn, sunflowers and canola are routinely coated in neonicotinoids, which then spread through plants as they grow. Many species of birds eat seeds. As little as 15-200 milligrams per kilo of bodyweight or just a few seeds coated with imidacloprid can kill any birds.
Chronic toxicity doesn’t kill animals overnight, but over time causes health, reproductive and behavioural problems. Studies conducted on rats suggest that neonicotinoids may adversely affect the human developing brain.
Most entomologists and pest management professionals have been saying for years that there is no pest management justification for using these insecticides on virtually every crop. Yet, the Indian government continues to push these world killers onto the farmers. Wake up your Member of Parliament now, before it is too late.
Maneka Sanjay Gandhi
To join the animal welfare movement contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.peopleforanimalsindia.org
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- Denis Giles
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More and more people are coming forward to join the animal welfare movement. But they have no idea of what to do. Even after becoming members of organizations, they are left mainly on their own, or asked to help the local shelter. But, the issues of animal welfare increase by the day and we really need lots of people to multitask, whether they are in organizations or not. Every colony, every building, every institution needs a group to protect the local animals and to teach the laws to local policemen and the local authorities.
First I would suggest that you join an existing group. But if there isn’t one, make your own. If there are just two of you in a building, institutionalize yourselves by giving a grand name to your group XYZ Building Animal Protection Group. The moment it is made, you will find more people joining it.
Then learn the laws. You will find them on my site www.peopleforanimalsindia.org and I would also like you to read all my articles on it as they will give you an understanding of the animal issues. You can also look at the site of the Animal Welfare Board of India to learn the laws www.awbi.org.
The next thing is to apply for the Colony Caretaker card from the AWBI site. This will empower you to look after animals in your area.
Now let’s get on to the really helpful stuff you need to do. These are the things that really make a difference.
Knowledge is half the battle won. Schedule a speaker from a shelter to talk to your clubs, school, college, neighbourhood group, religious gathering. If you work in a company, let the speaker come to your company employees. Basically a gathering of 20-30 people is a good place to start. People don’t know much and until they get to know why an animal is important and how to deal with the local animals, you will never get to win your local battles.
Place donation boxex of an animal group wherever you do business (or pleasure), such as your office, grocery store, dry cleaners, restaurant, gym. Even if you do not make much money, the cause is highlighted and becomes important.
Volunteer to feed, bathe and walk dogs, play with cats, design an exhibit, spearhead a special event, or otherwise volunteer at your local shelter. If you are a computer person, make flyers for the shelter and distribute them – even if it is only to 100 people at a gathering about their services – do this in your apartment complex, office or educational institution. Offer to make and run their Facebook and other social networking sites and do it everyday.
Think of and coordinate small fundraising projects, like bake sales, tables at melas, T Shirt sales. Give yourself a target of how much you will earn per month.
Get the dogs in your colony sterilized. This includes the owned dogs as well. Feed all the animals in your area and explain to disgruntled neighbours that if you do not feed them, they will get aggressive and that the law mandates that you feed them. Put collars on them. Do not throw food around, especially not meat.
If your company, school, college, club donates to charities, add animal welfare organizations to their list.
Find out if your local shelter could use any of the services or products your company produces and then provide them. You will be surprised at the things a shelter needs. Even paper and pens would help a lot, good working second-hand computers , old fans, cupboards, tables and chairs, kitchen equipment, light bulbs… there are hundreds of items.
One of the mistakes made by the animal welfare lobby is that we do not tap into our representatives. You need to know who your corporator is, your MLA, your MP and your local state minister. You need to meet them and ask them for help. You need to make friends with the local police station head and the DCP and possibly the commissioner. You need to know at least two local media reporters. Without this backup, you will be paralysed in an emergency. Animal welfare is not only about looking after local cats and dogs. It is about: slaughterhouse reform and stopping animal smuggling, catching poachers and stopping shops that sell birds and illegal animals, stopping dissection in educational areas which do not need to do it, stopping the display of cruelty in films and TV, getting SPCAs set up and the local government vet to come to work, stopping animal sacrifice in temples, removing pesticides, starting sterilization of dogs in your area. For all these things, one MP and MLA can be of tremendous help. But if you do not ask them they will never consider it on their own. You need to make your municipality animal sensitive, and if you do not meet your municipal commissioner regularly you will never do so. One lone poor woman in Nagpur who supports herself as a teacher has managed to get the municipality to put land and money for a shelter, get an ambulance, start the forest department working, stopped the illegal bird markets. Every MP, MLA and corporator knows her. The media writes about her all the time. When I went to Nagpur she got the local education officer to get 600 teachers to come and listen. If she can do it, anyone can. A single woman of absolutely no power in Uttarakhand has done more than that and, having engaged the best lawyers in Uttarakhand has stopped animal sacrifice in the entire state, got the dog breeders to stop, has had SPCAs made and now is building her own shelter. If she can do it, you can.
Start with these simple tips. Each one who is sensitive to animals remember this: compassion without action is of no use. One action has very far reaching consequences. So start any of these today.
Maneka Sanjay Gandhi
To join the animal welfare movement contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.peopleforanimalsindia.org
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- Denis Giles
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Hello parents! I am going to take an apple and dry it. Then I mash it into “appley” powder. After a few months I add water and chemicals to it, shape it and sell it to you as a fresh pure apple. Will you buy it for your children to eat?
No? Why not? You do it every day with milk.
The government brings out yearly statistics on fake milk, and even when their own studies done by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) show that more than 75% is not milk at all but urea, water, caustic soda, paint, sugar, detergent Hydrogen Peroxide, starch, glucose, salt, Skimmed Milk Powder (SMP) and vegetable fat, they still will take no action on the producers.
Let us presume that you buy government milk packets thinking that the government could not be cheating its own people. But when the government allows corruption in every field, why not milk? Today a major part of the milk in the packets is not the primary product of a cow or buffalo but reconstituted from powder.
Here is a report done by Harish Damodaran, an award winning journalist who has specialized in agri-business and commodities coverage: “ Nowhere is this more apparent than in the national Capital itself, where the market leader, Mother Dairy India Ltd, consumes an estimated 20,000 tonnes of skimmed milk powder (SMP) annually or 55 tonnes daily. That translates into six lakh litres per day (LLPD) of milk or roughly 30 per cent of the 20-22 LLPD that Mother Dairy sells on an average in Delhi . The proportion of reconstituted milk to the total throughout rises to 50 % during summer months.”
According to the milk producers, real milk is put aside in the winter months and turned into powder which is then mixed back into the milk whenever real milk runs short – which seems to be everyday.
The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) and owner of Mother Dairy says that it supplies ‘pure’ milk in the whole of Gujarat, Mumbai, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh (this is disproved for Delhi by the quantity of milk powder being bought). But in areas like West Bengal where all the cows have been killed or sent to Bangladesh (as in Kerala or the Northeast), there is no fresh milk available. There is a limit to the milk that can be sent by rail from Gujarat to Kolkata (and this milk will have chemicals like urea added to it so that it does not curdle on the way) so a large proportion of the so called pure milk has to be reconstituted milk.
Even in the states where there is milk, milk powder is added by private cooperatives and dairies. Why is this done? The Prevention of Food Adulteration rules stipulate a minimum 8.5 % Solids-Not-Fat (SNF) content for toned milk and 9 per cent in double-toned milk. If a dairy adds water then, to bring up the milk to the regulation standard, skimmed milk powder is added.
According to the government, Delhi , Uttar Pradesh, Punjab , Rajasthan and Haryana have crores of milk producing cattle and are the top milk producers of the country. So why is most of the milk here either completely fake or made of milk powder? Could it be that the government is simply faking cattle figures? There is no real milk, because there are no cows or buffaloes. They have all disappeared into illegal meat and leather slaughterhouses.
Why is milk not being labelled as “reconstituted”. Why is it still allowed to be called pure? In every other country including China , all dairy companies that are marketing reconstituted milk have to put this on their label. If this were done in India , there would be a sharp fall in the sale, and milk consumers would then demand fresh milk themselves. This would impact the illegal meat export that the government encourages. Therefore. the Ministry for Consumer Affairs will not do so.
Just to remind you: The National Survey on Milk Adulteration 2011 was conducted to check contaminants in milk throughout India . Most states failed the tests. Five states were found to be 100 % non-conforming to the milk standards set by the FSSAI. 14 % of the samples had detergent in them – in Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha. 70% of Delhi milk samples failed the FSSAI standards.
46% milk was found diluted with water. Of 1791 samples, skimmed milk powder was present in nearly 548 samples and 477 samples contained glucose.
The report appeared on January 10th 2013. The FSSAI were summoned and told to repair the damage they had done by releasing these shocking truths. So they are now busy issuing “clarifications.”
First they issued a press release stating that “non conforming” did not mean that it was “unsafe for consumption”. The milk may be of “sub standard” quality but “not necessarily” unsafe. In short: The milk may be rubbish but not everyone dies from drinking it so it can continue to be sold. The FSSAI officials have clarified that adding water to milk is only bad if “the water which has possibly been added is contaminated.” So, it is not bad to cheat the customer by adding water to an expensive product which is sold by weight – it is OK if the adulterant is clean.
Regarding reconstituted milk made from skimmed milk powder, instead of banning the practice, the FSSAI has said that a circular will be issued to big dairy houses to brand the milk right. The circular has not been issued till today.
Regarding the presence of formalin or formaldehyde, (a chemical used for preserving dead bodies and to increase the shelf life of milk when it is being transported), it is illegal in food and is a carcinogen. The FSSAI says "That is allowed for preservation. Maybe where we detected it they must have put it in larger quantities."
Regarding the detergents found in milk, the FSSAI says that this is because the handlers of milk have not washed out the detergents, used to clean hands and vessels. before handling the milk! It is a known fact that detergent is used to make synthetic milk to increase the thickness and viscosity of the milk. A study done by the Indian Council of Medical Research states that detergents in milk cause food poisoning and gastrointestinal complications.
Now the FSSAI says it can’t do anything about making milk pure- it has to be done by the states. The states refuse to take any action saying that they have not seen the report (which was published on the front page of every paper across India ). Bihar‘s milk was found to be 100% contaminated but the state Food Safety Authority maintains that "We have no idea where they collected the samples from. Once the report is shared with us, we will collect the samples, test it in our labs and then take appropriate action on whether the license has to be revoked or not.” This is six months after the report. (In any case the department has only 23 officers to man the food quality of the entire state.)
The Delhi Food Safety Authority has the same reaction. They agree that “The samples were found to contain skimmed milk powder. But this is not hazardous to health, its just reconstituted milk." Delhi has an estimated daily demand of 70 lakh liters of milk, about 90% is supplied by brands. Neutralisers like Sodium Hydroxide, Potassium Hydroxide, Ammonia, Carbon Trioxide (carbonate) and other alkalis are used to correct and optimise the pH value of un-fresh milk so that they appear to be fresh milk. Obviously they would be a necessary component in reconstituted milk, which is what 50% of Delhi ’s milk is in summer.
The FSSAI refuses to send their report officially to any state or even to the Indian Dairy Association! So the states have an excuse to ignore it. Even if they got them, most of the state testing laboratories are either defunct or ill equipped.
This belief that we are the world’s number one milk producer is misplaced. We are the number one fake milk producer in the world. And the only way you can stop this and protect your children is by totally stopping the purchase of this dangerous product.
Maneka Sanjay Gandhi
To join the animal welfare movement contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.peopleforanimalsindia.org
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- Denis Giles
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High up in the list of things I have to do before I die, is the stopping of shark finning.
What is this hideous trade? Sharks are a key species in the ocean. That means that they are responsible for the health of the waters and the fish. If you remove the sharks, all the other species will disappear.
China and the Chinese people, wherever they are, are the only people who make shark fin soup. Basically they boil the fins and throw them into clear soup. The fins have nothing in them that is of any value to the human body – it’s just something that the Chinese do. Just as every family wants an ivory seal - for which over 20,000 elephants have been killed in the last 3 years. The consumption of shark fins is seen as a symbol of wealth and social status and is served at celebrations. Shark fins are used in Chinese medicine as aphrodisiacs. While shark fin soup is very expensive (between US$10 and US$100 per bowl depending on the quality and amount of fin), the increase in the purchasing power of the Chinese has increased the demand.
And, as usual, India is raped.
How are the sharks killed? The boatman/fisherman/trawler go into the ocean and cast a net for sharks. The shark is held, the man cuts the fins off and then throws it back to thrash in the water till it dies of blood loss. Why does the shark finner do this? So that he does not have to use the space in the boat for the body and he can catch more sharks and carry more sharkfins. The fisherman cannot sell the meat of the shark – it is of very low quality because of the high levels of uric acid in the tissue.
An unbelievably cruel trade that destroys the ocean to make a useless product.
Is international opinion bringing this trade down in India? No. It is increasing rapidly every year. India is supplying 90% of the world’s shark fins.
Does the Indian government or economy make any money on this? No. Because most of the export is done in “Black”!!
To begin with, the entire catching is done in an unregulated manner. There are no laws of how many sharks can be killed and where the shark fins go. The fact that it is unregulated leads to enormous wastage. The body of the shark is wasted by the fisherman. For every fin sold, there are 6-7 that are thrown away. Thousands of sharks lose their lives daily. Today it is impossible to find many species and there are very few adults left.
International regulators have pointed out to the Indian Government that the official export data greatly understates actual shark fin exports. Two estimates of Indian shark fin exports, by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the other based on recorded Hong Kong imports from India, show that actual exports are many times greater than officially recorded amounts of approx 70,000 MT (metric tonnes).
Shark catching and finning is allowed on the grounds that it helps small fishermen. But small fishermen use catamarans and hand lines, and even motorized canoes use hook and line. Mechanized trawlers operating in Indian coastal waters account for 70% of all shark catches. No trawlers are owned by poor fishermen who are now down to 12% and decreasing. The trawlers are all owned by companies and very rich exporters, many of whom are not even Indian passport holders.
Andaman and Nicobar, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are the four culprits. In fact, Gujarat’s trawlers catch more than half of India’s sharks. Most of the rest happens in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where no local market for shark meat exists.
Seventy species of sharks are found in Indian waters. Not a single fishing vessel keeps logs of their catch – and nor does the government ask for them. This is in sharp contrast to all the regulations and data asked from vessels in other countries.
The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute collects data with a random sampling method which leaves out finned sharks in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, and poaching by foreign fleets. The FAO which is supposed to keep a check on shark catching all over the world has expressed major dissatisfaction with Indian officials about the veracity of this data; both in the amount of catches and the species.
Hong Kong handles between fifty percent and eighty-five percent of the global shark fin imports. Singapore handles the remaining international trade.
Shark fins in the international market are exported in either as ‘wet’ (frozen) or ‘dry’ and divided into ‘white’ fins and ‘black’ fins with white fins worth more in the international market. The corporation in charge of shark fin exports is the Marine Product Export Development Agency (MPEDA).
Does the fisherman actually make any money? The wholesale prices are about Rs.250-Rs.300 per kg. The retail prices go to 10 times that amount in the Hong Kong or Singapore markets, with foreign middlemen pocketing the profits from our oceans. Some fins sell for US$744 per kg.
Does India make any money? Shark fin exports have no paperwork. MPEDA makes no efforts to actually regulate or even audit the trade; most of the time they are lumped with other “seafood” and sent out. Couriers carry shark fins by air, often clandestinely exported in personal baggage to avoid import tariffs at ports like Singapore. MPEDA also does not record wet fin exports, only dry ones. These factors make it difficult to quantify the actual traded volume of shark fins for tax purposes.
MPEDA says that India exported an average of 66,000 to 76,000 MT of fins a year from 1989 – 2002. The FAO estimates that the actual export was much greater – twice to thrice the amount. MPEDA data is based on voluntary reporting by shark fin exporters and this is obviously extremely unreliable to avoid duty. However, even the FAO figures underestimate the actual export.
The real figures come from recorded Hong Kong imports of dry fins from India . Comparing recorded Hong Kong data to MPEDA exports reveals dramatic differences. In the year 2000, for example, Hong Kong recorded imports of 665 MT of dry raw fins from India , while MPEDA reported total dry fin exports of only 248 MT to ALL destinations across the world. Over 5 years, recorded Hong Kong imports are 5.18 TIMES higher than MPEDA exports! Such gross underreporting of actual exports is a scam in itself.
This means that millions of sharks are being caught every year.
In July 2001, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, concerned with the depletion of shark species and knowing the difficulty of selectively catching only non-threatened species, banned the catching and trade of all shark species. Predictably the industry mounted a protest and politicians felt it was better to have votes than sharks. It did not help that the Minister was from Tamil Nadu, the state that led the protest and which controls 90% of the sharkfin trade. The ban was lifted in December, 2001.
International observers have expressed concern that most of the shark’s waters have been overfished. The decreasing length of sharks caught attest to this. Sharks have low growth rates and it is easy to wipe out whole populations. This results in a large number of other fish species also disappearing.
The trawlers and traders and middlemen of sharkfins will go somewhere else, but if the sharks and fish get wiped out, as is likely to happen, what will happen to the small fishermen?
The first thing is to make it illegal for any fisherman / trawler to bring back only fins. If the entire shark is brought back then less will be caught automatically and the damage to the ocean in releasing wounded sharks will be reduced.
Close down those areas for fishing that are substantially overfished and put a moratorium of 5 years in order for the sharks to revive.
MPEDA must do a better job at collecting data or be disbanded. They even misreport the species: MPEDA says that S. zygaena is one of India ’s most important shark exports. Biologists say that it is such a rare species that it couldn’t possibly be.
There has to be accurate reporting and the shark trade has to be regulated. No shark fin can be exported without strict controls, and if there is a discrepancy between the amount found in Hong Kong, Singapore and the amount declared shipped from here, the company is to be shut down and its owners arrested. The shark fin trade has to go through more formal channels.
Even the fishermen agree that the first step would be to ban the practice of finning sharks off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Shark fishermen could be helped financially to shift to other professions.
Maneka Sanjay Gandhi
To join the animal welfare movement contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.peopleforanimalsindia.org
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- Denis Giles
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Since dogs and cats are now domesticated enough to qualify as semi humans, it is natural that the leading form of death in humans, cancer (Neoplasia), should become the leading cause of death in them as well. The medical science that studies cancer in animals is called veterinary oncology.
These are the signs you should watch out for:
1. Abnormal swellings that persist or continue to grow. While cancer is often an asymmetrical disease, lymphoma is a cancer that often occurs on both sides of the body. Therefore, even symmetrical swellings should not be ignored.
2. Sores that do not heal.
3. Weight loss.
4. Loss of appetite, or increased/decreased water intake.
5. Blood, pus, vomiting, diarrhoea or any other abnormal substance being discharged from any part of your pet’s body should be checked out. If your dog or cat’s abdomen becomes bloated or distended it could be a sign of an accumulation of abnormal discharge within the body.
6. Offensive odours from your dog or cat’s mouth, ears, or any other part of your pet’s body, should be checked out. Oftentimes cancers of the mouth, nose, or anal regions can cause such foul odours.
7. Difficulty eating or swallowing. Dogs and cats do not stop eating without a cause. While a lack of appetite does not automatically indicate cancer, it is still something to be taken seriously. Oral tumours can also cause difficulty or pain when eating.
8. Hesitation to exercise or loss of stamina.
9. Persistent lameness or stiffness. Limping or other evidence of pain while the pet is walking, running, or jumping is mostly associated with arthritic issues or joint or muscle diseases, but it can also be a sign of cancer of the bone.
10. Abnormal urination (including increased urine), breathing, defecation .Changes in your pet’s urinary or bowel habits – difficulty in passing, increased frequency, blood in urine or stool.
Examine your pet thoroughly every month, including obtaining a body weight if possible. If your pet will allow you to safely examine their mouth, this should be done as well. The mouth is a common site of malignant cancers that go undetected until they are very advanced.
These are the common forms of cancer:
1. Skin tumours are very common in older dogs, but much less common in cats. While skin tumours in cats are frequently malignant, in dogs they are often benign. Fine needle aspiration cytology is a simple, non-invasive technique that may be used to differentiate between benign versus malignant skin tumours. Relying on physical examination of skin tumours alone is an imprecise method and unfortunately can allow malignant masses to go undetected.
2. Mammary Glands - 50% of all breast tumours in dogs and 85% of all breast tumours in cats are malignant. Spaying your female pet before her first heat cycle will greatly reduce the risk of mammary gland cancer. The risk of malignant mammary tumours in dogs spayed prior to their first heat is 0.05%. It is 8% for dog spayed after one heat, and 26% in dogs spayed after their second heat. Mammary tumours are observed as a solid mass or as multiple swellings. When tumours first appear they will feel like small pieces of pea gravel just under the skin. They are very hard and are difficult to move around under the skin. They can grow rapidly in a short period of time, doubling their size every month or so.
3. Neoplasia of the mouth and nose; signs to watch for are a mass or tumour in the oral cavity, bleeding, excess salivation, odour, facial swelling or deformity, or difficulty eating.
4. Lymphoma is a common type of neoplasia in dogs and cats. It is characterized by enlargement of one or many lymph nodes in the body. Between 15% and 20% of malignant tumours in dogs are lymphomas in the lymph nodes. spleen, liver, and other organs. Golden retrievers, boxers, bullmastiffs, basset hounds, Saint Bernards, Scottish terriers, Airedales, and bulldogs appear to be at increased risk of developing lymphomas. In cats, there appears to be a strong link between lymphoma and infection with feline leukaemia virus,
Tumours that develop in the lymph nodes often present as swellings with no other symptoms. When the lymphoma is present in the gastrointestinal tract, vomiting, diarrhoea, weight loss, and lack of appetite are commonly seen. The chest form often shows shortness of breath and muffled heart sounds. The skin form can present in several different ways including single or multiple lumps in the skin, or mouth. These bumps can itch or be red and ulcerated. Lymphoma can also occur in the heart, eyes, central nervous system or bone.
5. Hemangiosarcoma in dogs is a malignant cancer that arises from the blood vessels and occurs more commonly in older dogs. Breeds that seem to be at a greater risk for hemangiosarcoma include German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, and Boxers. These appear on the skin as red or black raised growths or as lumps under the skin, with the overlying skin appearing normal. These spread fast. Spleen hemangiosarcoma symptoms include weakness or collapse and pale mucous membranes. Dogs will have symptoms of chronic blood loss, which include pale gums, irregular heart rate, and generalized weakness. Heart afflicted signs may include difficulty breathing, fainting, weakness, or sudden death. The heart will appear enlarged and round.
6. Tumours inside the abdomen are common but their location makes them difficult to diagnose early. Weight loss, loss of stamina, loss of appetite, or abdominal swelling are signs.
7. Bone tumours are most often seen in large breed dogs and dogs older than seven years, and rarely in cats. Persistent limb pain, lameness, and swelling in the affected area are signs of the disease.
8. Sunlight is a common cause of cancer in dogs and cats with tumours on the underside and inner limbs of dogs and the nose, lips, eyelids and ears of cats.
These cancers occur in dogs and cats in body regions with pink skin and thin hair.
9. Testicular cancer is considered one of the most common tumours in older intact (unneutered) male dogs. In fact in male dogs these tumours are considered fairly common.
The wonderful news is that India ’s first Cancer Centre for Animals has come up in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. It is supported by the Tata Memorial Centre and will treat all animals – pets or strays- afflicted with the killer disease free of cost. It is a branch of Advanced Centre for Treatment Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC) and is the brainchild of Dr Rajiv Sarin, director of ACTREC, and veterinarian Dr Pradip Chaudhari. The name of the centre is ‘Kukurripa’ after the mythological sage who left the pleasures of heaven to come back to earth to look after his beloved dog. The centre provides all modern tests, scans, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery to animals, domestic or stray, suffering from cancer.
To bring a cancer-affected animal to the Kharghar centre, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call animal cancer helpline at 022-27405000, extension 5451. Get your vet to call them and learn from them.
Maneka Sanjay Gandhi
To join the animal welfare movement contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.peopleforanimalsindia.org