New Campaign Focuses on Dogs’ Disease Risks

The American Veterinary Medical Association and Fort Dodge Animal Health recently launched the educational campaign “Being a Pet Is Risky Business” as part of October’s National Pet Wellness Month, an initiative that the pair began in 2004 to raise consumer awareness about the pet aging process, disease prevention and the importance of twice-a-year wellness exams.

Dog owners can learn about disease risk and prevention at any one of the 15,000 veterinary clinics participating, where free informational brochures as well as other materials will be available. The campaign will also involve public service announcements, including attention-getting TV commercials showcasing a dog pretending to sky dive (a “risky business”).

The goal of the campaign is to get pet owners into the clinic and ask about their pet’s disease risk, an AVMA spokesperson says, and to get veterinarians to initiate conversations about disease assessment.

For more information on National Pet Wellness Month, visit www.npwm.com