07/29/2025
Don’t leave pet hair for birds if you use flea and tick preventatives.
PLEASE RECONSIDER GROOMING YOUR DOG WHILST OUT ON WALKS (or in the garden!)
This - along with letting them swim in waterways - could be killing wildlife.
It's that time of year when you see random distributions of dog fluff out on walks.
Kanita is also blowing her coat, and Mohawk has been having a big coat change too recently. There's something very satisfying about gently pulling those loose tufts of hair out. If you know, you know.
I don't blame people for thinking that it's easier to groom a super floofy dog outside to save covering their house in hair- BUT if that dog receives anti-parasitic treatment, this may be harming wildlife.
A study in the Netherlands detected two active substances used in routine pet anti-parasitic treatments in the nests of great t**s- who had collected hair in order to build their nests.
Another study by The University of Sussex found that screened nests contained 17 out of 20 insecticides screened for. 100% of nests contained fipronil and 89% contained imidacloprid.
A higher number of unhatched eggs and dead chicks were associated with higher numbers of chemicals present in the nests (with dog hair being used to build the nests by the birds).
Many of these chemicals in these treatments are thought to be harmful to birds. It is also thought that they are damaging to insect populations (including bees) as well as contributing to pollution of waterways and damaging aquatic ecosystems - contributed by people letting their dogs swim in ponds, lakes, streams, rivers etc.
If you routinely use parasite control medication on your dog please do not let them swim outdoors (especially soon after treatment) and avoid grooming them outside (or bag up the hair as you groom).
There are some suggestions that oral medications are less damaging, but they don't just sit in the digestive system. They are transported around the bloodstream- which supplies nutrients and oxygen to the whole body. Toxins leave the body via excrement, urine, sweat, hair and skin cells- albeit predominantly via the former two.
Whilst topical treatments pose a greater risk - especially soon after treatment- it cannot be assumed that there is no negative affect from oral treatments. The research identified that dog hair is linked to bird deaths and that specifically states that dogs owned by volunteers donating nests received parasite control via collars, spot on and tablets.
Chemicals from Nexguard and Bravecto were not screened for in the study and thus are not ruled out as safe nor established as harmful (to birds).
The recommended frequency of use of these products continues to be called into question, as is the risk of adverse side effects in pets!
Veternarians are being encouraged to prescribe them based on risk to the individual.
Assessing individual risk is not easy for veternarians to do in the time that they have, so you can help your vet help you by intensively reading information on these products rather than administering them every 1-3 months in blind faith that it's the right thing to do and without consequence.
Our wildlife is in decline and if we care about nature- we all need to do our bit.
That may include reviewing the specific medication you purchase from your vet or you may decide to use them less frequently, such as treating as needed or seasonally (instead of across the year).
You may delay letting your dog swim post treatment for as long as possible, or consider alternative prevention such as worm counts, flea combing or natural repellents (although do note, some ingredients in these could still be toxic to some species of wildlife).
Again, whether to treat or not should be down to INDIVIDUAL RISK. What poses a risk to individuals in one area may differ to others elsewhere.
But it's also your personal choice and I want to make it clear that this post is NOT telling people to NOT treat their pets but simply to be aware of the potential impact of such treatments and to adjust our habits (swimming, grooming outside) accordingly.
Are there other things that damage the environment? Of course.
But this is a page about dogs, so content will be relevant to dogs.
You can use the fact that XY and Z also harm the environment as a justification for doing nothing, or you can consider whether there are small changes you are able to make. The cumulative effect is what causes these issues to escalate, and thus the cumulative effect is also capable of making some positive change.
Note: If you don’t use anti parasitics on your dog & groom them outside, then the hair may be beneficial for the birds. However, do consider that grooming products and other medications may pose a risk - should you use these.
These were the resources linked into the comments, but Ive opted to bring them here for ease. Within some of these you can be linked to the research on this topic and you will find much more detail on this emotive topic.
https://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/66973
https://www.veterinaryirelandjournal.com/small-animal/359-cat-and-dog-parasiticides-and-the-environment
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969725000737?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR-2&rr=908a988c1c6d63c1
https://www.songbird-survival.org.uk/post/veterinary-drugs-found-in-bird-nests/
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/243875/toxic-flea-tick-treatments-polluting-uk/
https://www.pan-uk.org/garden-birds-are-being-poisoned-by-pet-flea-treatments/
https://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/looking-after/managing-land-and-water/water-quality/flea-treatments-and-their-impact-on-water-quality
https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/blog/flea-treatment-toxic-to-wildlife
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/23/flea-treatments-cats-dogs-environmental-hazard
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7738705/
https://www.bva.co.uk/take-action/our-policies/responsible-use-of-parasiticides-for-cats-and-dogs/
https://www.bsava.com/position-statement/parasite-control/
