TEHRAN – While pets have the potential to spread infectious diseases and cause threats to human life, with medical advances and veterinary knowledge, many ways exist to prevent or deal with such diseases.

Although there are diseases that can be transmitted between humans and animals, the key point is that it mostly frightens the people rather than posing a life-threatening threat to our lives.

There are a number of pathogens that can be transmitted from animals to humans, whether among economic animals such as cows, sheep, goats, chickens or non-economic animals such as horses, dogs, cats, ornamental birds.

But the main point is that advances in medical and veterinary knowledge worldwide has empowered human to prevent and cope with many of these diseases.

In cities that are more temperate in the autumn and spring, conditions for growth, proliferation, and transmission of the viruses are more prevalent, so that outbreaks of diseases such as influenza (common disease among birds and human) increases. But these diseases are completely controllable and curable for us. 

Keeping common pets does not cause major problems, the problem emerges when some people show desire to coexistence with exotic pets, so our knowledge turns out defective because we have not sufficient knowledge about the wildlife diseases and the required vaccines also are not accessible.

In fact, it is not rational to frighten the people of common ailments and restrict animal keeping.

Currently, Iran's veterinary knowledge of pets is unique, at least in the Middle East, and we have made great achievements over the past 15 to 20 years.

It is hoped that anyone who wishes to enjoy a life of coexistence with a pet would have less trouble by consulting to a veterinarian before attempting to keep a pet. 

The most important thing, of course, is that sometimes we even violate the rights of animals by bringing them home.

FB/MG