what we want you to know is

Furry kids are just like people, providing a clean living environment and maintaining good health are the best magic weapons for caring for fur kids. Even if you are sick, you must follow the doctor's advice to take the correct medication, so as to help the fur boy recover quickly without leaving follow-up problems.

Everyone must have the experience of taking fur kids to the animal hospital for treatment. Sometimes due to accidental injuries, there are relatively large or serious wounds. In order to prevent or treat bacterial infections, veterinarians usually prescribe antibiotics for fur kids to ensure that the condition is not bad. will get worse.

Antibiotics can indeed be very effective against bacteria, but the biological characteristics of bacteria may also bring about a new problem - Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). What is bacterial resistance? What impact will it cause? This starts with what bacteria are all about.

Bacteria are creatures, so

Bacteria are the earliest organisms that existed on the earth, and they are also the most abundant type of all organisms. Basically, we can say that wherever there is life, there is a chance for bacteria to exist. They can exist in very extreme environments, including hot springs, submarine volcanoes, radioactive waste, and even grow on space shuttles. Some researchers have found bacteria in the Mariana Trench about 11 kilometers deep. Of course, various bacteria gather in the animal's body, including the surface of the skin, intestines, mouth, nose, etc. Bacteria can be found.

While bacteria are such tenacious, pervasive creatures, their effects aren't necessarily all bad—up to 80 percent of bacteria are harmless to humans. For example, we often hear about probiotics that can help metabolism; the production of pickles, wine, cheese and other delicacies, all need bacteria to help fermentation; bacteria can degrade organic compounds, so scientists will use some bacteria to decompose trichlorethylene and tetrachlorethylene pollution , this method is called bioremediation.

And those harmful bacteria cause various diseases through contact or oral way, including tetanus, food poisoning, cholera and so on. An effective tool for modern medicine to solve these bacterial infection problems is antibiotics.

Antibiotics really work well, and antibiotics should be used well

The invention of antibiotics dates back to 1928. Microbiologist Alexander Fleming (Alexander Fleming) accidentally observed that in a mold-contaminated staphylococcus petri dish, the bacteria near the mold could not grow, so he speculated that there may be substances against bacteria in the mold, which are antibiotics. How Penicillin was discovered. After penicillin, antibiotics developed against different bacteria gradually appeared. According to the mode of action, scope and efficacy of these antibiotics against bacteria, they are divided into first-line antibiotics, second-line antibiotics, third-line antibiotics, and fourth-line antibiotics in medicine. line antibiotics etc. When dealing with diseases caused by bacteria, the first-line antibiotics will be used first. If the bacteria are resistant and the antibiotics are not effective, the next-line antibiotics will be used, and so on. When the fourth-line antibiotics are used, the bacteria still cannot be effectively treated due to drug resistance, and they face the dilemma of no drugs available.

There are many reasons for the occurrence of bacterial resistance, but there are two main reasons. The first is that when antibiotics are used to treat diseases, the drug is stopped due to insufficient drug concentration, or the bacteria are not completely eliminated, causing the remaining bacteria to develop the ability to resist the drug. The second is long-term drug use, which causes the same drug dose to no longer have the same effect. This is also because the bacteria have developed drug resistance.

Tan Dalun, Chairman of the National Federation of Veterinary Associations of the Republic of China.

Get Rid of Bacterial Resistance, Let's Do It Together

In recent years, more and more Chinese people keep pets, regard them as members of the family, and treat them like their own children. Of course, furkids will get sick just like humans, and when owners take on the responsibility of taking care of them, they will need to face the problem of bacterial resistance. In this regard, Tan Dalun, chairman of the National Federation of Veterinary Associations of the Republic of China, specially reminded that if antibiotics are used on fur babies, the owners must remember to follow the doctor's advice and complete the course of treatment. "Arbitrarily stopping the drug will cause repeated bacterial infections, and even cause bacteria to mutate, causing bacteria to develop drug resistance and even become superbugs." The so-called superbugs will cause the above-mentioned, even the late-line antibiotics can not produce therapeutic effect, endangering the lives of pets, and also become a hidden danger to the environment.

"And in fact, fur kids are just like people. There are good bacteria and bad bacteria coexisting on their bodies. The problem with the use of antibiotics after the line is that these good bacteria and bad bacteria will be killed by the antibiotics, which may cause subsequent problems to the body. More, such as obesity, indigestion, etc., more serious cases may also induce tumors.” Dr. Tan also mentioned that because antibiotics are very effective drugs, in the past whenever there were problems with bacterial infections, antibiotics were directly used to suppress them. , resulting in more and more cases of bacterial resistance in hairy children. In the past ten years, even second-line drugs have been used, but the disease still cannot be effectively alleviated.

"Once veterinarians become aware of the problem of bacterial resistance, they prescribe medication based on the type of bacteria or the results of antibiotic susceptibility tests, use antibiotics more cautiously, and educate pets to pay attention to pet health and home environment hygiene." Dr. Tan said. Indeed, bacteria are not Super Mario who ate the invincible star. Not only antibiotics can fight bacteria, but also the immunity of furkids. If the body is strong enough in its original state, it is enough to treat the symptoms and let the immunity fight the bacteria. In addition, maintaining the hygiene of the environment is also a good preventive measure. Although bacteria are everywhere, the correct cleaning method is very effective in reducing the amount of bacteria on the surface of the environment, so that the chance of bacteria affecting the health of fur kids can be greatly reduced.

Once again, I would like to remind everyone that fur kids are just like people. Providing a clean living environment and maintaining a healthy and strong body are the best magic weapons for caring for fur kids. Even if you are sick, you must follow the doctor's advice to take the correct medication, so as to help the furry recover quickly and leave no follow-up problems!

what we want you to know is

The summary of this case is based on the fact that the dog has no chip, no pet registration, no neutering, the dog's vocal cords have been cut off, illegal breeding, no rabies vaccine and the seizure of animal drug injections on the spot, in accordance with the "Animal Protection Law" and "Animal Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control Regulations" ", "Veterinary Law", a total fine of 1,148,000 yuan was issued.

A fire broke out on the 2nd floor of an iron sheet factory in Lane 87, Siyuan Road, Xinzhuang, New Taipei City. A fire broke out on the evening of the 23rd. After the firefighters rescued and extinguished the fire, dozens of dogs were found. Because some dogs had no microchips, no pet registration, no rabies vaccination, and even The vocal cords were cut, and the owner administered drugs without authorization. The New Taipei City Animal Health Department stated yesterday (24) that it violated multiple regulations and fined the owner NT$1.14 million. Animal protection groups have requested in January of this year (2022) to amend the law to strictly control the breeding and trading of pets, so as to prevent illegal operators from "washing white".

It was found that the dog had no microchip, was not neutered, had its vocal cords cut, and was not vaccinated against rabies

According to the press release of the Animal Protection Department of New Taipei City, a fire broke out in a 3-story iron sheet factory on Siyuan Road, Xinzhuang District, Taipei City yesterday (23rd). In the factory area on the 3rd floor, the animal protection department sent personnel to the scene. Because the cordon was pulled up on the spot and the owner cooperated with the police to make a record, after confirming that the dogs were not in immediate danger, they went to the factory area with the owner again on the morning of the 24th to check the condition of all the dogs. After checking the number of dogs at the scene, only 27 Pomeranians and 1 Maltese were found, which was obviously inconsistent with the number recorded by the fire brigade the night before.

After breaking through the owner's defense, the owner said that 2 were sent to the hospital, 5 were at the home of relatives and friends, and the other 17 were brought back to the pet store in Miaoli last night for assistance. There are a total of 52 breeds of dogs. Since there are nursing dogs placed in the store in Miaoli, In order to prevent dogs from running back and forth, the movement of dogs in Miaoli is currently controlled.

In order to ensure the safety of the dogs, the Animal Protection Department sent all the dogs to the animal hospital for inspection urgently, and went to the store in Miaoli to confirm the condition of the dogs, and recorded all the dogs. After checking one by one, it was found that some dogs had no microchips and no pets. According to Item 3, Article 19 of the "Animal Protection Law", a fine of 3,000 yuan will be imposed, and some dogs will not be vaccinated against rabies. According to Item 2, Article 13 of the "Regulations on the Prevention and Control of Animal Infectious Diseases", a fine of 30,000 yuan will be imposed. Penalty.

The site also found six medicines for injections for animals in the refrigerator of the home on the third floor, including lincomycin, penimycin, milk lactate, Baoyudening, vitamin animal calcium injection, and Kechongbao. The owner stated that the medicines were provided by the animal hospital for spraying the wounds of the dogs. Since the owner has not obtained the qualification of a veterinarian and performed the business of a veterinarian, he has violated Article 30 of the Veterinary Law and will be fined 100,000 yuan and the medicines used will be confiscated. and equipment.

Most of the dogs barked hoarsely. The owner said that the Pomeranian was bred as a competition dog. In the early days, one side of the vocal cord was cut off because of fear of noisy neighbors. Because of the operation without medical purpose, the illegal facts are proven. Article 5, Item 2 of the Act will impose a fine of 15,000 won.

The Animal Protection Department of New Taipei City stated that all the dogs at the scene had been implanted with microchips, recorded, and sent to the animal hospital for physical examination. According to the evidence found at the scene, the owner confessed that he bred at home, and the number of dogs hidden in the store in Miaoli has exceeded 50, will be fined 1 million yuan in accordance with Article 22, Item 1 of the "Animal Protection Law" and the New Taipei City Government's handling of violations of the "Animal Protection Law".

Summary According to the fact that dogs have no microchips, no pet registration, no neutering, dogs whose vocal cords have been cut off, illegal breeding, no rabies vaccine and animal drug injections seized on site, according to the "Animal Protection Law" and "Regulations on the Prevention and Control of Animal Infectious Diseases" , "Veterinary Law", a total fine of 1,148,000 yuan was imposed. All dogs are required to be sterilized, and the New Taipei City Animal Protection Office also appeals to the public not to breed dogs privately, so as not to violate the law.

Animal protection groups have filed a "Sun Act" request to control pet breeding

In January this year, the movement group proposed the "Sun Act" request, requiring total control to limit the issuance of pet breeding licenses and the number of breeding dogs, all breeding and trading information should be digitized, dogs and cats are prohibited from being displayed in pet shop windows, and special pets that cannot meet the new standards Businesses should leave.

The "Administrative Measures for the Specified Pet Industry" has regulations on breeding farm facilities. Breeding farms that do not comply with the regulations cannot obtain legal licenses. However, Jiang Yiru, executive director of the Taiwan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said that "whitewashing" of "legal protection of illegality" is very common. Illegal breeding The farm will register the breeding dogs under the name of the legal breeding farm, and the puppies born will also be registered by the legal breeding pet registration station. After obtaining the legal status, the puppies will be sold to pet stores, and unsuspecting consumers will buy them in legal pet stores. There are puppies registered as pets, but the puppies bought are puppies bred in illegal breeding farms.

Zheng Zhujing, head of the animal protection section of the Animal Husbandry Department of the Council of Agriculture, said at the time that the "Animal Protection Law" will be amended in the future to impose responsibilities on the industry. It is necessary to upload the breeding information of pet dogs to the designated cloud system, so that the competent authority can grasp the number of breeding dogs and calculate a reasonable annual cost. The system automatically checks out unreasonable data on the number of puppies bred, and law enforcement agencies can start investigations, which helps to effectively manage the special pet industry. However, there has been no new progress in the bill so far.

what we want you to know is

When it comes to the positive impact of pets on children, it is not just as simple as living under the same roof, but the relationship between people and pets is the key. "The quality of the relationship seems to have more potential to improve health than whether you have pets in your home," Mueller said.

Pick up a book at random from a kid's bookshelf, and you're likely to find that the main character is an animal, not a person. Kids seem to love animals in general, with everything from hungry caterpillars to gigantic humpback whales. However, while the animal characters in a picture book are often far removed from reality, the pets in many of our homes provide children with a more realistic world of animals and a human-animal relationship that can positively affect a child's development in many ways. road.

Understanding this relationship will not only help parents choose the right pet for their child, but it will also give parents a greater understanding of what it takes to form a truly successful human-pet relationship.

Many people love pets deeply and regard pets as family members who can support each other at different stages of life. Pets can help couples strengthen their marriages and serve as playmates for children who accompany their parents when they leave the house. A study in the United States found that 63 percent of households with babies under the age of one had pets. An Australian study found that households with pets increased by 10% when their children went to school.

Many parents intuitively believe that caring for animals is an invaluable learning lesson for children, teaching them caring, responsibility and empathy. "Especially for children, it's important to learn that other people's perceptions may not agree with their own," said Megan Mueller, an associate professor at Tufts University who studies human-animal interactions. "This life lesson may be learned more easily with animals than with siblings or peers."

But the claims that pets are good for children's development don't stop there. There are also claims that pets can affect children's social skills, physical health, and even cognitive development. Pet ownership has been found to be associated with higher levels of empathy in children. For children with autism and their families, caring for pets may help reduce stress and create opportunities for mutually supportive relationships.

Other studies have shown that children also benefit from spending time with animals. Two sets of studies found that children who had a pet dog in the room made fewer mistakes when performing object-sorting tasks and needed fewer cues to remember things. The study even found that while media coverage of the benefits of pet ownership is not without criticism, for adults at least, the simple act of treating pets as family members does improve our happiness, as people generally believe Pets improve their health and happiness, even though objective measures don't show any difference between having and not owning a pet.

A boy in France happily undergoes treatment with his dog by his side.

Learn to get along with pets, you can also learn to get along with people

So, do pets really bring us all the benefits mentioned above? Or is this just wishful thinking on our part? Hayley Christian, an associate professor in the School of Population and Global Health at the University of Western Australia in Perth, Australia, sought to uncover the truth about this human-pet relationship.

Christian and her colleagues conducted a longitudinal study of 4,000 children between the ages of five and seven and found that children with pets had fewer problems getting along with their peers and exhibited more prosocial behaviors (i.e. helping others). , cooperation, sharing and other altruistic behaviors). In another study, they found that children aged two to five who had dogs at home were more active, spent less time on screens and slept more on average than those without pets .

What played a key role in this study was the dynamic household activities the dog facilitated, such as going out for a walk.

Then, a research report published in 2021 integrated and analyzed the above two studies. After controlling for factors such as socioeconomic status, the researchers found that children who frequently engaged in dynamic activities with dogs had healthier growth and achievement.

"We can say for a fact that children who have pets and spend time with pets at an early age do seem to have an additional benefit in developing their emotional intelligence in dealing with people," said Christian, who is also director of Children's Health in Australia at Trisson. Research Institute (Telethon Kids Institute) senior researcher.

But that doesn't mean every household should have a pet, or that every child with a dog grows better than one without. The hassle of pet behavior, complex medical needs, and the financial burden of caring for animals can make life a little bit more difficult for pets. If the residence is not suitable for pets, it will face more difficulties.

“We would not suggest that every household with children should have a dog,” Mueller said. In fact, Mueller investigated whether American teens who owned pets during the COVID-19 outbreak had better mental health than their non-pet peers. Better yet, it turns out having a pet doesn't seem to make a difference.

“My hypothesis for this is that the COVID-19 (severe specific infectious pneumonia, new coronary pneumonia, Wuhan pneumonia) epidemic is a huge stressor, and nothing is enough to overcome this stress,” she said.

It’s also possible that the COVID-19 pandemic has ended one of the ways that owning a dog could benefit us. “We gain social benefits from our interactions with pet dogs, and pets can socially interact with others in this way,” Muller said. During the social isolation of the pandemic, teens may insist on daily dog walks, but avoid social interactions. Talk to other dog walkers, thus losing these short social interactions.

A Ukrainian girl hugs her pet at Warsaw railway station. Studies have found that children view pets as the most important companions in their lives.

Build deep friendships with pets

When it comes to the positive impact of pets on children, it is not just as simple as living under the same roof, but the relationship between people and pets is the key. "The quality of the relationship seems to have more potential to improve health than whether you have pets in your home," Mueller said.

The amount of time you spend with your pet is a factor. If you have a hamster in your sibling's room, it's unlikely you'll feel deeply attached to that hamster, but if you take your family dog for a walk after school every day, you're more likely to bond with your dog. Deeper.

A child's age can also determine how deep their bond with a particular pet is. Children between the ages of 6 and 10 are much more closely related to animals that are closer to humans, such as cats and dogs, than to more distant species, such as birds and fish. But for older children, such as between the ages of 11 and 14, the depth of the relationship is almost the same. They have the same level of affection for animals that are not so close to humans, including hamsters, just like they have affection for cats and dogs.

what we want you to know is

The pharmacists claim that if veterinarians can directly purchase human medicines without going through the pharmacists' checks, it will destroy the current separation system of medicines, and the probability of drug abuse may increase significantly.

Legislator Gao Jiayu recently received a complaint from the public that his pet died of acute renal failure suspected of being caused by a urinary tract infection after undergoing chemotherapy at Eden Animal Hospital in Taipei City due to cancer. In addition to suing the animal hospital for medical negligence, the public also advocated that veterinarians use "chemotherapy drugs without legal certificates" for treatment. Therefore, Gao Jiayu asked the Council of Agriculture to review and inspect if there is any violation in the Legislative Yuan.

And this question caused a great uproar, because Gao Jiayu opened up the medical dilemma that pet owners and veterinarians in Taiwan have been facing for a long time, that is, "Can animals use human medicine for treatment?"

Animal drug use and veterinary "illegal" dilemma

According to Article 50 of the "Pharmaceutical Affairs Law", veterinary clinics are not general medical institutions and cannot directly purchase human medicines from drug dealers. If animal hospitals obtain human medicines from drug dealers on their own, there may be concerns about illegality.

In April 2018, the Bureau of Prevention and Inspection of the Council of Agriculture announced the draft "Administrative Measures for the Use of Drugs for Human Use in Dogs, Cats and Non-economic Animals". I found a solution with the owner, but the National Federation of Pharmacists' Associations believes that this law violates the "Pharmaceutical Affairs Law" and requires the removal of this method, and in the future, veterinarians must be checked by pharmacists when prescribing medicines.

Lawyer Lu Qiuyuan pointed out in a post on Facebook that many drugs used to treat animals over the years have been "under the hood". Veterinarians know that they are illegal, but they still import "parallel imports" privately for demand, and the owners may know it or not. However, they accepted the situation as "no harm" and the competent authorities turned a blind eye until the case broke out.

Under Gao Jiayu’s questioning article, a large number of comments began to appear, questioning “the veterinary doctor and the Council of Agriculture’s anti-inspection bureau have a tacit understanding of illegal drug use, why do you want to intervene?” Gao responded that “prohibited drugs are medical risks.” A veterinarian coordinated with the National Defense Inspection Bureau to allow Taiwan's unlicensed drugs to be cleared on a case-by-case basis. It also pointed out that the drug "Palladia" has legal alternatives in China, and the risk is much lower than banned drugs and counterfeit drugs of unknown origin.

The outside world questioned that Gao Jiayu did not do enough homework beforehand, causing veterinarians and owners to directly delete the article, which made the outside world even more dissatisfied. They believed that Gao Jiayu did not really understand the issue of pet treatment. Netizens were also angry when Gao Jiayu said that he would establish a mechanism for relaxing veterinary medicines Scolding, "Doctors have already carried the cross in order to help hairy children be transferred to justice, and you still have to step on it to make people think it is a doctor's problem?", "What you should do is to work hard in the Legislative Yuan to make advanced drugs and targeted drugs legal and smooth It is used in animal hospitals in Taiwan instead of becoming a banned drug!"

Animal Protection Groups and Breeder Associations Raised Gao Jiayu: Killing Our Dogs

Shao Bosen, the chairman of the TNVR Association of Langai cats and dogs in Hsinchu City, nicknamed "Brother Tiger", posted a post on Facebook, directly calling "Gao Jiayu, you will kill our dog." Shao Bosen pointed out that the most common animal consultation is heart medicine , Antibiotics, tumor drugs, epilepsy drugs, endocrine drugs, and various first-aid drugs are illegal to use on animals in Taiwan. Veterinarians will have their licenses revoked if they use them, and they will be reported to the court and sued.

At present, there are only a few legal antibiotics available for animals in Taiwan. If the bacteria that happen to be infected must use dozens of other antibiotics, it will become illegal; the infection cannot be stopped, and the owners and veterinarians can only watch the animals die. Currently, the scope of control is the most A good targeted drug was used by the hospital but was transferred to the local prosecutor's office. "It's pitiful and pathetic." Take the targeted drug Palladia as an example. It has been widely used in foreign countries for many years. It has been reported to the central government for many years because it is not a legally licensed drug in Taiwan. However, it has not been paid attention to by the executive, and the regulations cannot be updated to apply to clinical medical practice. Gao Jiayu "set himself on fire".

Shao Bosen also criticized Gao Jiayu for not understanding the whole story, and he just listened to the unilateral accusation of the online celebrity owner, and scolded the veterinarian who actively found a solution for the owner as an unscrupulous veterinarian; today's clinical medical rescue is not a result theory, it will involve a lot level problem.

Yang Jingyu, former chairman of the Taipei Veterinary Association and current Taipei City Councilor, said that animal medicines are divided into two categories: "economic animals" and "companion animals". Economic animals will become the source of protein on the table, so they must be strictly Controlling the types of medicines and safe usage and dosage, while the number of companion animals is mainly dogs and cats, which are different from economic animals in the consideration of medical medicine; however, the central competent authority has not fully understood this essential difference, and has not Able to understand the trend of social development, and continue to manage "companion animals" with the old-fashioned thinking of economic animal medicine. If it cannot be changed, Gao Jiayu's incident will not be the last.

Yang Jingyu said that more than 1,700 animal hospitals and more than 4,000 clinical small animal physicians in Taiwan are facing serious medication problems. Basically, children can also get diseases that humans have. Unable to buy, some drugs are used in small quantities but are very important, and imported drugs that have obtained the license of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) abroad; however, the Taiwan companion animal market is too small, and the review of drug import registration is time-consuming Difficulties; veterinarians face the dilemma that there is no medicine available to treat companion animals, and medicine is illegal.

Yang Jingyu said frankly that clinical veterinarians will try their best to obtain therapeutic drugs based on treating fur babies and appeasing the owner's anxiety. However, according to the current "Animal Drug Administration Law", the use of prohibited drugs is illegal.

What does the pharmacist think?

Although there are cat, dog and furkid associations on the Internet, many owners and netizens stand on the standpoint of protecting animals, and believe that veterinarians are also doctors, and it is most important to save lives on the front line, and the lives of animals are as precious as human beings, and they should also enjoy the same medical treatment Rights, etc., should not be limited to the "inappropriate" issues of the current regulations, but miss the opportunity to save animals.

However, according to the report compiled by "Wowo", the pharmacist advocated that according to the "Pharmaceutical Affairs Law", animal hospitals are not included in the drug sales channel. Destroy the current system of medicine separation, and the probability of drug abuse may increase significantly.

It is the pharmacist's responsibility to sell, manage, and check the quantity of products. In the absence of animal drugs, if pets need to be treated with human drugs, the veterinarian should first write a prescription and ask the owner to go to the pharmacy to receive the drug. Then go back to the animal hospital and ask the veterinarian to adjust and guide the feeding of the medicine, and the pharmacist in the community pharmacy will check the quantity professionally, so that the pharmacist can check the quantity and manage the flow of human medicine better, so as to maintain the safety of the public and avoid The rigorous human drug management system has been destroyed.