Noted “doctor” Jill Biden will appear in a public service announcement on Sunday prior to the Super Bowl, in which she will admonition America’s dog owners to wear a mask when hanging out with their dogs — “even when you’re walking them,” she says in the short video, as nauseating peppy music plays in the background.
“Hi there, I’m Jill Biden [wait, no “doctor”?], here at the White House, with our two dogs, Chip and Major.
“For a lot of us during this pandemic, our pets have been such a source of joy and comfort. And, maybe a bark or two on a videoconference [cue laugh track].
“The unconditional love from a dog is one of the most beautiful things on earth and we owe it to them to keep ourselves healthy, so please keep wearing your mask, even when you’re out walking your dog, right guys?” [cue dog bark]
The public service announcement will run during Puppy Bowl XVII, which will air on Animal Planet shortly before Super Bowl LV between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs, which begins at 6:30 ET.
I must admit that while I was already fully aware of Jill Biden’s “doctoring” chops, I was not aware of her renowned expertise in the fields of infectious diseases or veterinarian medicine. Therefore, I did a little digging in an attempt to find out whether her advice on wearing masks around dogs was sound — or just another load of masking nonsense.
According to the American Kennel Club, here’s the latest scoop:
According to the Centers for Disease Control, “there is no evidence that pets play a role in spreading the virus in the United States. Therefore, there is no justification in taking measures against companion animals that may compromise their welfare.”
It’s important to clarify the facts currently known about the coronavirus, and the big question on dog owners’ minds: can dogs get coronavirus?
Dogs can contract coronaviruses, most commonly the canine respiratory coronavirus. This specific novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is not believed to be a health threat to dogs, but dogs can test positive for the virus.
The AKC site gave several examples of pets and COVID, including a case in Hong Kong.
Two pet dogs in Hong Kong tested positive for COVID-19, and both dogs lived in homes with COVID-19 positive owners.
Local health officials characterize the cases of the two dogs in Hong Kong as “likely to be a case of human-to-animal transmission,” and neither dog showed any signs of illness from the virus.
Hong Kong officials stress that “these findings indicate that dogs and cats are not infected easily with this virus, and there is no evidence that they play a role in the spread of the virus.”
This presents quite the predicament. On one hand, the American Kennel Club suggests COVID is not believed to be a health threat to dogs, and as in the case above, two dogs that tested positive for the virus had no signs of illness. Moreover, dogs and cats are not easily infected and there’s no evidence that they play a role in spreading the virus.
On the other hand, we have Jill Biden and her impressive list of credentials telling us pretty much the opposite. So what’s a dog owner to do?
Since I’m not a dog owner, I think I’ll just sit this one out and let all you dog owners figure it out. Then again, as the American Kennel Club suggested, there’s not much to worry about. Hey— why not just slap a mask on the dog and be done with it?
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