scatterbrainedlass
Member
- Location
- Lancashire
Ok, I know this is currently a touchy subject, but as we have dogs, sheep and access some of our land through fields holding dairy heifers I am aware that our dogs are a potential threat. I have done some research and it appears that dogs are infected by eating infected tissue (placenta, dead animals). Vicious cycle? Therefore an animal would have to already be carrying the neospora virus before the dog ingests it, so unless dogs are allowed access to wide areas it wouldn't actually be spread. As my dogs don't have access to animal tissues (they eat wet and dry dog food) then it's unlikely they'd be infected if this is the case. Foxes also carry neospora, and they are far more likely to be eating dead stuff. While I dislike dog muck all over the place and am more on the side of the farmers than the dog owners, it feels like dogs are being branded the villains here. Is this the case, is the information I have found misleading?
I can't prevent my dogs from going when nature calls, and in my own fields where they are loose and working I can't go picking it all up. I'd like to know whether my own dogs are potentially a threat to my livestock, and the articles I have read seem to suggest that unless they've been eating infected tissue it's very unlikely. Can anyone shine any light on this for me?
I can't prevent my dogs from going when nature calls, and in my own fields where they are loose and working I can't go picking it all up. I'd like to know whether my own dogs are potentially a threat to my livestock, and the articles I have read seem to suggest that unless they've been eating infected tissue it's very unlikely. Can anyone shine any light on this for me?
