With so much poor air quality in the past few weeks, and this now being the second summer of smoky skies, one has to wonder, how are the animals affected?
Doug Magnowski, a veterinarian for the Animal Care Hospital of Williams Lake, said there isn’t much difference from the way animals and people should be cared for under smoky skies.
“In severe cases of smoke inhalation, we need to treat those just the same as they would treat people,” he said. This would mean putting an animal in an oxygen chamber and to manage C02 and 02 levels and managing fluid build up in the lungs.
But Magnowski said our current level of smoke is not severe, “You’re not going to get smoke inhalation from the level of smoke we have in the air right now.”
Magnowski and his team stayed behind when everybody was evacuated from last summer’s wildfires, to care for the animals that remained in the area.
Even under last summer’s smoke, they didn’t see “tremendous respiratory distress.”
He said one of their big concerns, at the time, was whether there would be an increase in pneumonia in cattle as a result of the smoke.
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“I don’t think that exacerbated itself. I don’t think that became an issue,” he said.
“There were certain issues attributed directly to the fires, obviously, where we treated animals that were impacted and burned, there’s no question about that. But as far as the smoke creating an issue secondarily, I don’t think that we saw an increase.”
Just like with people, Magnowski said when the skies get smoky, animals with existing respiratory issues should minimize exposure, when possible.
“Dogs with chronic bronchitis, horses with heaves, things like that then we need to minimize the amount of small particulate matter that gets down into the lung.”
Ideally, this would mean staying inside, “but realistically, unless you have air conditioning or something, an animal just going in the barn isn’t going to decrease the amount of smoke in the air,” he said.
READ MORE: Update on wildfires in the Cariboo, Aug. 26
“From a farm animal perspective or a large animal perspective, what I wouldn’t be doing is exercising your horse to a large degree, like forcing your horse to work hard and breathe hard under the smoky conditions.
“It’s just the same with people. If you’re a marathon runner and you run a marathon in the smoke, you’re going to be affected a lot more just because you’re breathing hard and you’re breathing small particulate matter deeper inside the lung.”
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Denise Little, the treasurer of the 100 Mile and District Outriders Club, had just that strategy for her horses.
“Yes, definitely, if you can avoid strenuous activity with them when the smoke is really thick.” She said it’s the best way to handle extreme smoke.
“I didn’t ride last year when it was really thick at all,” she said.
“On the other hand, sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I mean, ranchers are going to be out there using their horses to move cows because they have to do it, right, and some things don’t just stop because the weather’s not ideal. You do the best you can for them given the circumstances.”
Little has six horses of her own and said they haven’t had any health issues because of the smoke.
Heidi Meier’s sheep and alpacas didn’t have any related health issues either.
The Lone Butte 4-H Club’s A-leader said, “We were very fortunate,” and that they simply limited the animals’ activity and exposure.
“The smoke, it’s ultimately not healthy for anyone, right, so we just drastically limit what they do … I find they naturally decrease their activity all on their own,” she said. “Animals are pretty smart they are able to figure it out.”
Meier said last year, when the smoke was much heavier, their fields were often covered in ash.
“Until we got some rain to clean off the grass and remove that ash debris, we were feeding a lot more grain and hay than we would normally have done in the summertime.”
Magnowski, who has been a veterinarian, serving the Quesnel, Williams Lake and 100 Mile areas for 31 years, said eating ash wouldn’t necessarily be an issue.
In fact, they treat animals who have ingested poison with activated charcoal. It absorbs the toxins.
“If it’s light and dusty on the ground, then you’re going to increase the amount of fine particulate matter that gets in the lung, but as far as them ingesting a bit of the ash, I don’t think that’s something that we would see as a gastro-intestinal issue.”
For animal owners who may have concerns about smoke exposure, Magnowski recommended contacting a veterinarian who is versed in the animal’s health history, so he or she can determine if treatment is required.
beth.audet@100milefreepress.net
