Depressing Future Awaits Companion Animals

Today, I read an article that appeared in yesterday’s Telegraph. It contained this disturbing news: More and more suicidal pets are being prescribed anti-depressants.

This news comes only less than a week after a report in the New York Times about the antidepressant Prozac and its cousins, including Paxil and Zoloft, being linked to suicide and violence in hundreds of patients over the years.

Now, in addition to fearing a violent outburst from one of the over-medicated children in the neighborhood who forgot to take his anti-depressant, I have reason to fear the neighbors’ dogs, cats, birds and other pets.

The headlines that might await us in the near future are truly frightening:

Prozac-Deprived Pooch Escapes Kennel, Wounds Six

Depressed Calico Lashes Out at Letter Carrier

Parrot Refused Meds Before Flying Off Perch

The future looks gloomy indeed, especially when one considers what the likely defense for dog owners will be when their dogs are accused of biting someone: They’ll sue both the pharmaceutical companies who made the drugs and the veterinarians who prescribed them.

-- Bob McCarty Writes