Backyards

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Companion animals are part of our families, but inevitably the time comes for us to say goodbye to them due to old age or disease.
Many pet lovers opt to bury their pets in the backyard. However, there are some hidden risks to this, and there are other options that will help other pets, and even the owners who love them.
Donating their body to science, for research and veterinary training, can potentially help hundreds of pets.
Why the backyard isn’t best
Backyard burial may seem like the easiest way to respectfully take care of your pet’s remains. Unfortunately, it can be dangerous for other pets and wildlife. Most pets are put to sleep with an extremely concentrated anaesthetic agent, which results in a very peaceful death (hence the term euthanasia, which means “good death”). However this drug, pentobarbital, persists in the buried body of the pet for up to a year. Any animal scavenging on the remains will be poisoned by the euthanasia solution.
I have seen two cases in my career where this has happened, with serious consequences. In one case a family had their pet mouse put down and buried it in the backyard. The family’s terrier dug up and ate the mouse, and was comatose in intensive care for nearly a week. In another case, two farm dogs scavenged some bones from a cow which had been euthanased on a farm months before. One dog died and the other was seriously ill for several days.
If your pet dies of a disease which could be spread to other animals or even people, their body might also pose a risk. While vaccination has reduced the amount of dangerous pet diseases in the community, some diseases like <a href="https://theconversation.com/vaccinate-your-puppies-a-new-strain-of-parvo-has-been-found-in-australia-77236" target="_blank">parvovirus</a> still occur in outbreaks and are very hardy and spread readily between dogs.
This virus causes severe and sometimes fatal gastrointestinal disease in puppies and young dogs. Thankfully there are not many diseases we can catch from our pets, but some – such as salmonellosis and toxoplasmosis – can make sensitive people very ill.
What do to instead
One option is pet crematoriums and cemeteries, which are available in most large cities and regional centres in Australia. The services are very professional and cover a variety of options and price ranges that suit most pet owners. Costs may vary with the size of the pet.
Professional burial or cremation avoids the risks of environmental contamination or disease that might occur with backyard burial. For my own pets which have passed away, I chose cremation which typically costs A$200-300, and then buried their ashes under a memorial tree in my garden.
However, there is another path. As a veterinary pathologist, my job is to conduct autopsies on animals to determine their cause of death. We also use the knowledge and samples we get from the autopsies to conduct research to improve our understanding of diseases and treatments in both animals and people.
Our pets make excellent “<a href="https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/animal-mode" target="_blank">models</a>” of diseases in both pets and people, allowing scientists to study the development and progression of a disease and develop new treatments.
Cancer is the <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26566160" target="_blank">most common cause of death</a> for pet dogs. Many popular breeds get the same cancer at high rates, providing ample valuable research material. These dog cancers are similar in appearance, behaviour, treatments and genetic causes to many human cancers.
What’s more, because dogs share our home environments, but age faster and show more rapid cancer progression than humans, studying dogs provides <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26566160" target="_blank">faster research results</a>. In the United States, dog cancer trials are already informing trials on <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2753665/" target="_blank">new human treatments</a>.
Another area where dogs are valuable scientific allies is in the study of rare genetic and developmental diseases in children. As we have bred dogs for specific appearances, from squishy-faced French bulldogs to lanky greyhounds, we have unwittingly created genetic abnormalities. Some of these are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5070630/" target="_blank">close counterparts</a> of rare genetic disorders <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20075379" target="_blank">in children</a>. Thus, dogs can be used to help identify the genetic mutations behind the disease, and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5070630/" target="_blank">how the faulty gene</a> affects human children.
Universities have rigorous ethical reviews for this type of research. However, it is vital that we have the opportunity to take samples of both common and rare pet diseases to form tissue banks. Most of this sampling happens during an autopsy after the pet has died or been put to sleep. These tissue samples are used to research better treatments.
How to donate
If you are interested in donating your pet’s body, your veterinarian can direct you to potential local options. In most large cities this will be the veterinary school at the local university. Alternatively, you can contact the veterinary science school directly through their website or general enquiries telephone number.
Most schools are interested in all species for teaching. My institution takes everything from mice to horses, and exotic pets like snakes and lizards. All these species provide opportunities to learn about their anatomy and diseases.
Beyond helping us research human diseases, veterinary schools need pet body donors to help teach anatomy, surgery and pathology. At its most ethical this training is done on the bodies of animals that have died from natural causes.
Donated pets provide my students with a valuable understanding of how disease affects the body. Further, we report the autopsy findings back to the pet’s veterinarian. This information is crucial to vets who want to confirm diagnoses, and for giving grieving owners some closure.
If you do opt to bury your euthanased pet, please consider enclosing their remains in a container that would prevent other animals accessing the body. Many local councils also have restrictions on pet burial, and it is worth looking at your local area’s guidelines.
Ultimately though, I would urge you to donate your pet’s body to science. The loss of a pet can be heartbreaking, but there are many ways to create a meaningful legacy from that loss which helps both pets and people.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113375/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
Rachel Allavena, Associate Professor, The University of Queensland
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-you-shouldnt-bury-your-pet-in-the-backyard-113375" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

Why you shouldn’t bury your pet in the backyard

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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/81479/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">
GUEST OBSERVER
The traditional Australian suburban backyard is being lost to higher-density housing and massive project homes on small lots.
City planning is focused on making cities more compact, which in some ways is desirable, and the large backyard is seen as unsustainable and undesirable because of the space it consumes. But its loss could well be increasing the risks of physical and mental health problems among city residents.
Private and secure backyards are places where people can retreat from the relentless pressures and intensity of city life. This sort of open space may provide the essential nurturing environment city dwellers need to cope mentally and physically with the stresses of their lives.
And cities are stressful places in which to live and have always been so. In the second century AD, Roman poet Juvenal wrote that the noise and lack of sleep in Rome was a major problem. Only wealthy Roman citizens could deal with the stress by building homes surrounded by peaceful gardens outside the city centre.
<h2>How is our health affected?</h2>
Today, evidence shows us that city dwellers, while benefiting from the advantages of city living, also suffer.
For instance, they are more likely to experience anxiety and depression, and their risk of psychosis increases dramatically. City dwellers have been shown to have a 39% greater risk of mood disorders and a 21% added risk of anxiety disorders compared to rural dwellers.
Life stresses clearly play a major role in causing poor mental health among city dwellers, but the impact of the environment cannot be ignored. A recent review of 50 studies shows that an environment devoid of nature may have undesirable impacts on health or quality of life. Part of the problem lies in the visual absence of plants and landscape.
It’s reasonable, then, to suggest that a lack of landscaped settings, such as backyards, could reduce emotional wellbeing, particularly among people less able to cope with mental stresses.
<h2>A place of vanishing backyards</h2>
Perth, where project homes bigger than 300 square metres are common, provides an interesting case study.
When devising Perth planning policies in the 1950s, Gordon Stephenson argued that the large backyards associated with Australian homes reduced the need for large public recreation areas. The backyard was seen as necessary for healthy city living.
By the 1970s, land subdivisions in Perth usually produced a residential lot around 600m2 with a frontage of 20 metres. Because project homes were so much smaller then, with a minimum 6m rear setback, a Perth family usually had a backyard of 120m2 at the very least. These areas provided space for large trees, cubby houses, climbing frames, swings, gardens and area to throw a ball.
Today, Perth planning regulations require private open space smaller than a double garage per family household. Houses like those of Alkimos and Ellenbrook, on Perth’s fringes, spread almost from boundary to boundary.
The houses comply with Perth planning requirements that allow areas under eaves, patios, verandahs and paved parking areas to be included in open space calculations.
<h2>Starved of space, and hotter</h2>
The result is little useful recreational outdoor space. Far from being child-friendly, these family homes without backyards are restricting our children from enjoying a normal active life in the safety of their homes.
Children have to use indoor spaces for recreation. This usually take the form of sedentary entertainment sources such as television and electronic games, adding to a great public health problem confronting our children. Obesity is associated with a lack of exercise as well as eating fast food.
Reducing open green space is also increasing urban temperatures, with major physical health consequences. All Australian capitals will increase significantly in average temperature by 2050. Perth will become Australia’s hottest capital with estimated heat-related deaths increasing from 294 a year to 1,419, many more than the city’s annual road toll.
It has been known for many years that the best way to combat urban heat is by providing well-landscaped open spaces with large trees. This is the very type of space that many large backyards provided.
We can confirm this cooling effect using thermal imaging. This thermal image of suburban Perth, taken on a 38-degree day, shows that landscaped backyards in older suburbs (blue) are far cooler than more intense housing developments with little private open space (orange to red).
<img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/179764/width754/file-20170726-20682-17jv4ol.jpg" alt="">
A thermal image shows older suburban areas with large landscaped backyards are much cooler (blue) than the hotter (orange-red) higher-density areas of Perth. Dr Paul Barber ArborCarbon
Leadership is needed
What can and should be done?
The principle is simple: in the suburbs we need to build smaller two-storey project homes with large backyards open to the sky, just as they have learnt to do in the suburbs of European cities. The role of these backyards can change as family lifecycle needs change.
Achieving this, however, will be difficult. Australians show little self-control of their consumption even when warned of the consequences.
A change is needed, driven by courageous, sensible and forward-thinking politicians who can see beyond the compact city pushed by planning bureaucrats.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/linley-lutton-298755" target="_blank">Linley Lutton</a> is Adjunct Senior Teaching Fellow in Urban Planning and Design, University of Western Australia and author for <a href="https://theconversation.com/au" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.
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