Smokers may quit for pets sake

Michigan, February 9: An unusual study found, people who refuse to quit smoking despite its health hazards, may be motivated to quit to protect their pets from second hand smoke.

A survey conducted by U.S. researchers showed that 28 percent of petdefine owners, who smoke, might consider giving up cigarettes to spare their pets from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke.

Sharon Milberger, an epidemiologist at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and lead author of a study, disclosed, "We wanted to determine whether pet owners who learned that smoking is bad for their pet's health would change their behavior."

The findings came from a Web-based survey of 3,293 U.S. pet owners, mostly from Michigan. Of these, 21 percent were regular smokers, having an average of 13 and a half cigarettes a day. Half of them smoked within their household premises, whereas another 27 percent lived with someone who smoked.

In a surprising revelation, nearly 28 percent said that the bad effects of smoking on their pets' health would spur them to give it up. One in 10 (8.7 percent) said they would coax their partners to quit, while around one in seven (14 percent) said they would tell their partner to smoke outdoors.

Among non-smokers, more than 16 percent said they would ask their partner to quit, while 24 percent said they would tell their partner to smoke outdoors.

There is enough evidence that passive smoking is as bad for household animals as it is for humans, but many pet-owners are unaware of this risk. Around 40 percent smokers and 25 percent non-smokers living with smokers said they would be interested in receiving information on the effects of smoking and how to give up.

Sharon stated, "It's not necessarily that people love their pets more than they love themselves or their children, it's just another motivational factor for people to consider quitting smoking."

The researchers said that just as exposure to second-hand smoke can harm people it can raise a pet's risk of lung cancerdefine, allergies, eye and skin diseases as well as respiratory problems. They added, "This new source of motivation could be particularly strong for smokers who, aside from their companion animals, live alone."

The research was conducted with support from Pet Supplies "Plus," a national pet product retail chain, as well as the Michigan Humane Society and a grant from the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute. It was published in the journal Tobacco Control.