If you’re a dog like me, you like to run around in the yard, check the trees, bushes and plants for new smells and mark the place up as best you can. I also like to chew on blades of grass every now and then… they give my sensitive belly a bit of relief.
But what if your master sprays your running place with weed killers, fertilizers or insecticides? Since that stuff kills bugs and weeds and is a POISON, doesn’t it stand to reason that it might be harmful to us dogs, too?
As it turns out, the answer is YES!
We’ve all heard that Monsanto’s Round-Up is being linked to the reduction of our bee population, but in 2015 the World Health Organization also concluded from a thorough study that “Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, probably causes cancer.”
According to the label, Roundup is safe for pets and children to walk on as soon as it’s dried completely. Monsanto doesn’t suggest this for the safety of your pets, but to keep pets from tracking wet Roundup to other areas of your lawn or flowerbeds. Wet Roundup residue can damage your plants — and your pets.
A 2012 study from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine also linked lawn pesticides to canine malignant lymphoma (CML). Based on questionnaire results from dog owners, the study found “specifically, the use of professionally applied pesticides was associated with a significant 70% higher risk of CML. Risk was also higher in those reporting the use of self-applied insect growth regulators.”
From the published study, dogs at highest risk for acquiring CML were:
- Over 50 pounds
- Living in homes where pesticides and herbicides were professionally applied
- Living in homes where owners used lawn care products containing insect growth regulators (insect growth regulators are chemical killing agents)
A 2013 study showed that exposure to herbicide-treated lawns has been associated with significantly higher bladder cancer risk in dogs. Chemicals were detected in the urine of dogs from 19 of the 25 households examined following pesticide application.
The upshot is, do you think it’s more important to have a green and weed-free lawn or a healthy pet? If your answer is the latter then synthetic and even ORGANIC weed killers, bug sprays and powders and lawn fertilizers all put your pets at risk and must be stopped to ensure the safety of your animals.