How would Miss B, a dog that wandered around in our community, develop cancer? What is to prohibit each of us from developing the same cancer?
In the next ten years twenty million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer. Twenty million means one out of every fifteen people. It might be a reflection of an aging population but the most dramatic increases in cancers are among children and young people. This is because they are smaller and have greater exposure to new toxins. The continual increase in cancer cases cannot be dismissed as a statistical fluke. It is a part of a greater problem: environmental illnesses on a global scale. Each new case should be viewed as a "canary in a coal mine."
An increase in cancer among pets is a sign that something is subtly and quietly poisoning us. Many of us own dogs and cats that live in our homes and ride in are cars. They drink the same water and breathe the same air as us. The result: they also have skyrocketing rates of cancer. Rover's biggest nemesis used to be a speeding automobile; now it is a tumor. The cancer rates of some "indoor" dogs have tripled in the past thirty years. To date, the reaction of animal doctors is the same as that of people doctors: build more hospitals and offer more chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation treatments. Instead of looking for a cause, we are focusing on the cure. We have forgotten our grandmothers' axiom: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
Reports show more than seven hundred man-made toxins can be found in human tissues. Each new chemical and every pound of exhaust added to the atmosphere is an experiment in just how much we, and the planet, can withstand.
Goodbye, Miss B.
No comments:
Post a Comment