(Ron Quaroni/paNOW Staff)

By Ian Gustafson

Keeping animals safe

Local vet offers advice to pet owners amid COVID-19 pandemic

Apr 14, 2020 | 1:26 PM

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the main priority for the public is to protect themselves and their family from getting infected, including their pets.

At the beginning of April, it was reported a tiger tested positive for the coronavirus at the Bronx Zoo in the United States. This brought up questions about what animals, including pets, can and cannot be infected with the virus or serve as vectors to carry it.

A veterinarian at Park Range Veterinary Services Dr. Peter Surkan told paNOW at this point there is not enough science to support that theory.

“The official stance of the Canadian Veterinarian Medical Association is that there is no evidence that pets will play a role in transmitting the COVID-19 to humans,” Surkan explained.

He said although the case in the Bronx Zoo is interesting, he is not sure if they have done enough research on it yet.

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“I know that’s in the air about the similarities of a coronavirus that cats might get, and people might get we don’t know that for sure,” he said. “At this point there’s no research that definitively says that whether that’s going to change in six months or a year that might be. Time will be the answer.”

He added at his clinic they have not yet seen any animals come in with COVID-19 symptoms. He explained he thinks it is unlikely dogs and cats will get significantly ill from the virus if it is proven they can become infected.

“If you are in fact COVID-19 positive again they’re recommending that you have someone else look after your animals and avoid close contact with your animals if you’re Ill,” Surkan said. “Good hand washing, avoid coughing and sneezing on your animals.”

He added to use common sense and wash hands before and after touching someone else’s pet and limit your pet’s contact with other people.

Such as before he is not sure but Surkan said pets could carry the infection if the virus is left on fur or skin.

“At this point I think that pets are one of the saviours in this. More people are walking their dogs and practicing social distancing and spending more time with their pets recently and I think it’s a tremendous mental health stress relief thing if you can spend some time with your animals,” he said.

He said given the current state of affairs, there is bound to be misinformation.

“We have to be very careful about testimonials you know like people saying ‘well this happened’ or ‘this happens versus a peer reviewed research’ where it’s based on scientific evidence,” he said. “We have to go through the scientific process before we jump to too many irrational conclusions. That would be the take home message is to follow the lead of the Canadian Vet Association and people who are trained to do good research.”

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ian.gustafson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @iangustafson12