Flea Poison

Open letter re Flea Poisons to: THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL

Nel Liquorman, Health Editor / TheDogPress © July 2006

ATTN:  TED KOPPEL

DEAR EDITOR IN CHIEF:

I hope that as a REAL JOURNALIST you will be less affected by the trends of mainstream media, which so influenced by the advertising dollars derived from the chemical industry and the drug industry that  such an important issue as this goes under reported.

There are an estimated 60 million households with companion animals (formerly known as pets).  Most of these household are consumed by the poisons that they are using and they are not getting important information until after the damage is done.  While the media had no problem reporting all the deaths from the Diamond pet food manufacturer, they never mention all the harm (including horrible animal deaths) being done by flea poisons.  Could this be because they had nothing to loose (in advertising dollars) from the demise of this small pet food company?

Please read my article, GOT FLEAS? which  is enclosed.  It contains information that every pet owner need to know concerning flea poisons.  Most people do not give any thought to whether or not they are doing any harm with these products, because they are too busy trying to fight off the fleas.  One woman even wrote "the fleas aren't just eating the dog alive, they are hopping me".

The flea problem is global, and so are the poisons!  Additionally, as if our pets need to suffer more, many vaccines are now known to be toxic and suspect in many of the ailments now surfacing in the pet population.  Many states have decided that rabies vaccines do not need to be given annually, but every 3 or 4 years.

Many veterinarians are not being forthright in telling their clients.  Do you wonder why that is?

The reason is very obvious to me.  When an owner takes a pet in for a yearly rabies vaccine, the vet charges $15 to $25 for the rabies vaccine and then an extra charge for the office visit, usually gets the owner to get other vaccines which are profitable, recommends and sells a variety of flea products, pets food, grooming aids, etc.  Now, if the owner does not have to bring the pet in for the next two years, look what happens to the vet's income.  It is cut by at least 40% to maybe 60%.  Sure the pet may get sick or injured, but chances are just as good it will happen when the regular vet is closed, causing the pet owner to use a 24 hour emergency clinic, and a different vet for the event.  Vaccines are very profitable.  The cost the veterinarian pays for rabies is 60 to 90 cents.  There really is not an incentive for the vet to say "your pet only needs to be vaccinated every 3 years; it is the same vaccine". (* below)

Many animal control facilities and animal rescue groups now offer free or low cost spay and neuter services to help eliminate the over-population and ultimate euthanasia of unwanted animals.  And, it is being performed by "really good guy" veterinarians who offer their services to these groups at low or no costs.

Additionally, animal control services often offer rabies vaccines at $1 to $5, and even hold "vaccinating" events in neighboring towns. Basically, I am saying - vaccines are bad and flea poisons are bad.  The chemical industry, the drug industry and most veterinarians do not want people to know this.  It seems that the media has a part in this. The public depends on the media to point out the good, the bad, and the ugly to them.  How many people on the street know what a neurotoxin is?  How many people even know the chemical name of a neurotoxin?  A poison does not have to be as bad as a neurotoxin in order to be doing harm.

 On the net you can read about many broken-hearted people whose dogs and cats  have died from poisoning, and most are not from tainted foods, but from flea poisons and vaccines.  Don't you think these issues are worthy of investigating and reporting?  For many people, pets are not just best friends, but family members.  And when you consider the close proximity we have with our pets, you must realize that what affects pets could easily be affecting people.  There just has not been a body count yet!

 Sincerely,

 Nel Liquorman

 * Update: By the way, my vet was not upfront in telling me about the 3 and 1 year vaccine being the same.  I went through all the hoops and finally got back to him with the proof from a vet in NC refer by the Pinellas County Animal Control dept. as a source to ask for definitive info (although they could have provided it), and my vet renewed my cats' licenses without getting another vaccine this year.  The county said to furnish him info on what I knew (which I did) and there was not a chance that he would risk his license.  They also said that there are a lot of good vets making mistakes on this issue.  My question after getting all this straight (went to vet in early Mar.), since the county is aware, why don't they set everybody straight?  Who are these people afraid of? 

http://www.thedogpress.com/Columns/Flea-Poison-0607_Liquorman.asp