Deniers Killed my Kitten

I read this drivel by Louise Gray on the Telegraph website and had to respond

Climate change could kill your pet, warns the RSPCA

Climate change could kill pets, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), as warmer temperatures cause an increase in exotic diseases among cats and dogs.

In the first conference to be called on pets and climate change, scientists warned that the small heartworm, that kills dogs, cats and foxes, is already on the rise in the UK with more cases appearing in the north of the country and Scotland because of warmer wetter summers.

The first conference on pets and climate change, check the date, it's not 1st April so WTF? What's next a conference on the effects of climate change on bath mats? Well we had a hot dry spring followed by a cool wet summer this year so I can only presume that the problem ain't so urgent any more.

Furthermore because of the increased numbers of pets coming into the country from abroad without quarantine, there is a greater threat of exotic diseases that can become established in warmer temperatures and may even pose a threat to humans.

If I remember correctly the RSPCA was all in favour of removing quarantine legislation and replacing it with pet Passports. The truth about the rise in any "tropical" diseases is far more likely to to be caused by the lack of quarantine on animals coming to the UK from abroad.

The RSPCA are so worried about the affect of climate change on cats and dogs, the charity is calling on pet-owners to take preventive measures against exotic diseases especially when travelling abroad.

In other words, the RSPCA is very worried that it isn't making enough money from climate alarmism and has decided to try and get one more big bite of the cherry before the whole scam unravels. I am sure we will see the RSPCA produce a range of preventative measure priced to sell, any time now.

In the second RSPCA annual conference in London a number of experts came together to discuss the issue.

Well they do like a good conference, they are paid for by the gullible donors and conferencing is much preferred to working by the fake charity sector.

Susan Shaw, from the University of Bristol, said small heartworm, a parasitic disease spread by insects that can kill dogs, cats and foxes, is already on the increase. She blamed the warmer wetter summers that means there are more slugs and snails around which spreads the disease if the dogs eat them.

Don't know much about Susan Shaw, from her publications list on the Bristol Uni web site she seems to have an unnatural fascination with cat flees and the importation of exotic animal to Ireland. To be frank if she really believes that the incidence of small heartworm is due to warmer wetter summers she has obviously failed to notice that summers aren't getting warmer or wetter. Didn't the warmists claim that the UK would be riddled with malaria by now if we didn't all stop driving cars?

"Climate change is a concern with these diseases because of its transmission on intermediate hosts like slugs and snails. [Heartworm] has already spread in the UK and we are concerned it will spread further," she said.

Heart worm has spread, must be global warming mustn't it. It couldn't be that there are more cats and dogs which would naturally result in greater numbers of animals with heartworm. Research done by Susan's own employers the Veterinarian Department at University of Bristol in Feb 2010 published a statement in which it states that there are more cats and dogs in the country than previously believed. Prior to the Bristol survey there had been no study on the numbers for 20 years. Remember unbridled immigration has added 10 million to the population in the last 13 years, more people more pets, do you see?.

Professor Sandy Trees, (oh come on, your just making these names up now, ed) a specialist in Veterinary Parasitology at the University of Liverpool, said exotic diseases could become established in the UK as temperatures increase. He said the number of animals coming into the country has risen from around 5,000 every year to around 100,000 every year since 2000, when the Pet Travel Scheme lifted the need for pets from the EU, US, Canada, Australia and other countries to be quarantined.

He said large heartworm, a malaria-like parasite known as babesiosis and another insect-borne disease leishmaniosis – all of which can prove fatal to cats and dogs – have already been spotted in the UK.

And there we have it, the number of animals entering the country from abroad, probably without quarantine, has gone from 5,000 to 100,000 per year and you attribute the increase in animal diseases to global warming. "Exotic diseases could become established in the UK as temperatures increase", except temperatures aren't increasing are they Sandy?

Professor Trees is of course the Senior Vice President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Not that I am saying dear Sandy is up to anything dodgy here. And I am sure that having large numbers of RSPCA supporting pet owners queueing up at vets doors for heartworm prevention treatment is the furthest thing from his mind.

Prof Trees also said species of tapeworm, that can prove fatal to humans, could be brought into the country if restrictions are lifted further and temperatures are warm enough.

But as temperaures aren't increasing we can ignore this, can't we?

"Just as human travel may expose us to new disease threats, so increasingly free pet animal movement threatens pet health. Compounded in the longer term by climate change, these two phenomena of globalisation and global warming may see new and serious dog diseases becoming established in the UK," he said.

Delete the second sentence from that paragraph and I believe we have the truth.

The RSPCA is calling for more research into heartworm and exotic diseases. The charity called on pet owners to prevent spread by using collars to stop ticks and fleas and consulting vets as soon as infections are spotted.

Oh I just bet they are calling for more research and more government funding no doubt.

If this is the best the warmists can come up with then the battle is almost over.