Comments for Ballyoncree http://www.ballyoncree.com/blog Animals, the natural world, and life at Ballyoncree. Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:30:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 Comment on It’s poison for your kids, sure, but what about Fluffy? by Andrew Einspruch http://www.ballyoncree.com/blog/?p=3#comment-3 Andrew Einspruch Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:44:07 +0000 http://www.ballyoncree.com/blog/?p=3#comment-3 Hi, and thanks for stopping by. I agree, biologies are different. And your example of chocolate is a good one. However, it isn’t so much about being silly about science. It is more being cautious about science. What science thinks is safe changes all the time. Have you ever seen one of those old films where they spray DDT on kids as a de-louser? That used to be considered safe. Plus, it is my feeling that some accepted formulations for use on animals allow for a level of toxicity that is higher than for humans, because animals have a shorter lifespan, and therefore the build-up over the shorter lifespan is not apparently so great. So when something is labelled poison for humans, but is marketed as safe for our dogs and cats, it just makes me worried that decisions about long-term (or short-term) safety have not been made on a basis that I would consider acceptable for the animals. Hi, and thanks for stopping by. I agree, biologies are different. And your example of chocolate is a good one. However, it isn’t so much about being silly about science. It is more being cautious about science. What science thinks is safe changes all the time. Have you ever seen one of those old films where they spray DDT on kids as a de-louser? That used to be considered safe. Plus, it is my feeling that some accepted formulations for use on animals allow for a level of toxicity that is higher than for humans, because animals have a shorter lifespan, and therefore the build-up over the shorter lifespan is not apparently so great.

So when something is labelled poison for humans, but is marketed as safe for our dogs and cats, it just makes me worried that decisions about long-term (or short-term) safety have not been made on a basis that I would consider acceptable for the animals.

]]> Comment on It’s poison for your kids, sure, but what about Fluffy? by MyName http://www.ballyoncree.com/blog/?p=3#comment-2 MyName Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:48:10 +0000 http://www.ballyoncree.com/blog/?p=3#comment-2 The point is that animals DO have different biologies. Just consider chocolate: OK for humans, toxic for dogs. There are plenty of chemicals (natural and otherwise) that are beneficial for one species and nasty for another. I share your love of animals, but that's no reason to be silly about science. The point is that animals DO have different biologies. Just consider chocolate: OK for humans, toxic for dogs. There are plenty of chemicals (natural and otherwise) that are beneficial for one species and nasty for another.

I share your love of animals, but that’s no reason to be silly about science.

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