It seems I am fighting a two-front war, besieged by three superb scholars. Professors Robert Delahunty and John Yoo,1 and Professor Michael Ramsey2 have authored bracing and challenging responses to Unleashing the Dogs of War (Unleashing).3 Though I have learned from these essays, their authors might say that I have not learned enough because I continue to adhere to the categorical theory’s cla...

BACKGROUND Rabies is a widespread disease in African domestic dogs and a serious public health problem in developing countries. Canine rabies became established in Africa during the 20th century, coinciding with ecologic changes that favored its emergence in canids.This paper reports the results of a cross-sectional study of dog ecology in the Antananarivo urban community in Madagascar.A questi...

Obesity is a major medical concern in human subjects, and most concerning is the rapid recent increase in childhood obesity. Children are more likely to be obese if their parents are obese, an effect that is mediated both by genetics and environment, most notably parental influence. Four major parenting styles have been recognised: authoritative; authoritarian; indulgent; uninvolved. Too much p...

BACKGROUND Dog ownership may be an effective tailored intervention among adults for promoting physical activity. This study examined the relationship between walking, physical activity levels, and potential psychological mediators between people who owned dogs and those who did not own dogs in the Capital Region District of Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Data were collected in Sept...

The aim of this population study was to identify personality traits among older (>65 years) male and female owners of cats and dogs and to compare their general health status in relation to their personality. Further, the aim was to examine whether current cat and dog ownership could be predicted by the owners’ personality and health. Data were collected from the NorthTrøndelag Health Study (HU...

OBJECTIVE This study explored the association between pet ownership and self-reported health in people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). METHODS One hundred and ninety-three (193) people with medically diagnosed CFS completed a postal survey designed to collect information on illness severity, physical and psychologic health, and pet ownership practices. RESULTS Most of the par...

The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) is an observational study of 14,273 UK pregnant singleton mothers in 1990/1991. We examined outcomes of self report of strenuous activity (hours per week) at 18 and 32 weeks of gestation, hours spent in leisure-time physical activities and types, and pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI); overweight status was defined as pre-pregnancy B...

Various positive effects of pet ownership on cardiovascular health are well known. The aim of this prospective and controlled longitudinal study was to determine the effects of everyday dog-walking on physical capacity in elderly patients during the first year after myocardial infarction. Regularly dog-walking for at least 15 minutes three times a day is related to significantly higher work loa...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate epidemiologic features of rabies virus variants in dogs and cats in the United States during 1999 and assess the role of bat-associated variants. DESIGN Epidemiologic survey. SAMPLE POPULATION Rabies viruses from 78 dogs and 230 cats. PROCEDURE Brain specimens from rabid dogs and cats were submitted for typing of rabies virus. Historical information, including owners...