American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) say masks on pets are unnecessary, can distress them, and make it difficult for them to breathe.
GRACE DEAN: A company selling face masks for pets has reported booming sales for 2020 – but top vets told Insider you shouldn’t put a mask on your pet… People had previously bought the $25 masks as a novelty or to protect their cats and dogs from pollution, the company’s founder, Salitia Henwick, told the news agency.
But sales have boomed during the pandemic as people look to protect both their pets and themselves from COVID-19. This is despite the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and UK vet charity PDSA all telling people not to put masks on their furry friends because it can distress them as well as making it difficult for them to breathe…
It isn’t just in the US that people have been scrambling to buy masks for their pets. Some of k9’s orders came from overseas customers in China, Japan, and Australia, and a Beijing-based seller told MailOnline demand for speciality dog masks was up tenfold only a month after China confirmed its first COVID-19 case. But animals shouldn’t be wearing face masks, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) told Insider…
Wearing a mask can be distressing” for pets, UK pet charity PSDA noted, and may affect their ability to breathe normally, particularly in flat-faced breeds. In one instance, PDSA had to perform emergency surgery on a cocker spaniel after he ate a face mask which blocked his intestines. The dog hadn’t been wearing the mask, and had likely stolen it from his owner’s bag…
The risk of dogs and cats spreading COVID-19 to people is considered to be “low,” but the virus has been known to spread from humans to animals… “There is no evidence that the virus can spread to people from the skin, fur, or hair of pets,” the CDC said in its guidance. Alongside masks, people shouldn’t use products including chemical disinfectants, alcohol, hand sanitizer, and counter-cleaning wipes on their pets, it added. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEO: