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Young World
Love them, fatten them
PHOTO: REUTERS
FAT CAT: Obese pets.
Australia is a nation of pet lovers but it may be loving its animals to death with pet owners passing on rising levels of obesity by overfeeding their cats and dogs, the country's main animal welfare body says. Despite its image as a sports-mad country full of fit, sun-bronzed youth, Australia in reality is battling the bulge and challenging the U.S. as the world's fattest nation. The problem now extends to household pets. Obesity rates for Australians have doubled over the past 20 years, with 62 per cent of men and 45 per cent of women now deemed overweight or obese. The same trend applies to household pets, with an increase in the number of overweight cats and dogs being dealt with by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), and even one case of an obese pet mouse! Mark Lawrie, the RSPCA's chief vet told Reuters surveys had found that between 40 and 44 per cent of dogs and more than one in three household cats were now overweight, due to poor diet and a lack of exercise. Fat cats and dogs were more vulnerable to diabetes, arthritis, heart problems and liver disease.
COMPILED BY NIMI KURIAN
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