The unhealthy air quality because of the Butte County fire also affects family pets, veterinarians
Family members including pets are affected by the continued exposure to poor air quality by the smoke from the Camp Fire burning in Butte County. Veterinarians are offering guidelines for pet owners.
At Butcher Dog Park in San Jose — several pets are having their nightly play time.
“She’s doing great, she doesn’t seem to know there’s anything different.” Karthik Iyer said of her dog Pixie. Iyer said that she usually takes her dog out for an hour or more, but with the smoke coming in, she has cut her playtime to 45 minutes.
Pets are just as susceptible to health issues from the bad air as people. Warnings from the Peninsula Humane Society say pets shouldn't get so warm that it induces panting, which makes them breathe in more bad air.
The best advice from veterinarians is to limit the amount of time pets are allowed to stay outside and that includes any kind of strenuous play like Frisbee or catch.
One San Francisco dog owner decided to drive four hours south to escape the smoke.
“Being there, being by the sea, having some fresh air, you know the dog have been like just wanting to go outside to play so much, so it will be nice for them to be able to do that after a week of being very boring inside.” Kimberly Stedman said,
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She said she’s always wanted to visit Morro Bay and it was the closest place she could find south of the Bay Area with healthy air quality.
