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By Greenpeace | Animals | Sep. 22, 2016 10:16AM EST

Greenpeace Investigation Uncovers Studies Showing Pesticides Pose Serious Harm to Honeybees

By Joe Sandler Clarke

Chemical giants Bayer and Syngenta commissioned private studies which showed that their neonicotinoid pesticides can cause serious harm to bees, a Greenpeace investigation has uncovered.

The revelations come with the UK set to decide its own policy on pesticide use once it leaves the EU. The UK lobbied against the current EU ban when it was introduced.

Dead bees in a French beekeeping farm.Wikipedia Commons

The company research—designed to reveal the level at which their products harm bees—was obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests to the U.S. environmental regulator.

Publicly, the two firms have often sought to play down suggestions that their products can cause harm to honeybees.

Weak Research

However, the studies will cause little surprise in industry circles. Industry and scientists have long known that the products can harm bees at certain levels.

Instead, the research has been criticized by experts because it assumes a very narrow definition of harm to bee health and ignores wild bees, which evidence suggests are more likely to be harmed by neonicotinoids.

It means the studies may substantially underestimate the impact of the two firm's products on pollinators.

Due to commercial confidentiality rules, Greenpeace Energydesk is not allowed to release the studies in full.

Transparency

The latest revelations have sparked calls for greater transparency from the industry and regulators to publish data on the impact of pesticides on pollinators used to make—or lobby for—regulatory decisions.

Responding to Greenpeace, Syngenta said it's study was due to be published in a journal—though the company did not give details. Bayer said the study would be discussed at an upcoming conference.

Both firms claimed that whilst the studies did show a risk to honeybees from their products this would only apply at higher concentrations than normally seen in agriculture.

Each study focused exclusively on honeybees, though recent research has shown that the chemicals have a negative impact on wild bees.

Matt Shardlow, chief executive of the charity Buglife, told The Guardian:

"These studies may not show an impact on honeybee health [at low levels], but then the studies are not realistic. The bees were not exposed to the neonics that we know are in planting dust, water drunk by bees and wildflowers, wherever neonics are used as seed treatments. This secret evidence highlights the profound weakness of regulatory tests."

Bee Deaths

The newly uncovered studies examined the impact of Bayer's clothianidin and Syngenta's thiamethoxam on honeybees at varying concentrations.

Both show that chemicals can seriously harm honeybee colonies at high concentrations, though the effects were less marked at lower levels, concentrations of 50 parts per billion (ppb) and 40 ppb respectively.

"Bayer and Syngenta's commitment to pollinator health should include publishing these data or otherwise making them public," Christian Krupke, an entomologist at Purdue University, told Energydesk. "This work presents a rich dataset that could greatly benefit the many publicly-funded scientists examining the issue worldwide, including avoiding costly and unnecessary duplication of research."

In the U.S., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently conducting a review of neonicotinoid pesticides and their impact on pollinator health.

Back in January, the first stage of this review found that imidacloprid, which is made by Bayer, harmed honeybees and suggested it "could potentially take action" to "restrict or limit the use" of the chemical by the end of 2016. The findings of the reviews into thiamethoxam and clothianidin, from which these two studies are taken, are due to be published in 2017.

Denials

The unpublished research comes after previous assurances by Syngenta in particular about the impact of its product on pollinators.

On its website, Syngenta states there is "no direct correlation between neonicotinoids use and poor bee health" and "the allegation that neonicotinoids-based pesticides are inherently damaging to bee colonies or populations is not true."

In statements issued to Energydesk last month, the firm added, "None of the studies Syngenta has undertaken or commissioned for use by regulatory agencies have shown that thiamethoxam damages the health of bee colonies and we stand by the integrity of our neonicotinoid product.

The private research did not examine the impact of the product on bee colonies in "normal" conditions. However, other studies have done so.

Last month, a study by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology linked the long-term decline of wild bees in England to the use of neonicotinoids.

A major field study in Sweden last year found that wild bees were badly affected when exposed to fields treated with clothianidin, while honeybees proved more robust.

Energydesk reached out for comment from the EPA, but did not receive a response at press time.

In a statement to Energydesk, a Bayer spokesperson said:

"The study conducted in North Carolina is an artificial feeding study that intentionally exaggerates the exposure potential because it is designed to calculate a "no-effect" concentration for clothianidin. Although the colony was artificially provided with a spiked sugar solution, the bees were allowed to forage freely in the environment, so there is less stress (which can be a contributing variable) than if they were completely confined to cages.

"This protocol was developed jointly by Bayer and the EPA several years ago and it is now being applied to other compounds. Based on these results, we believe the data support the establishment of a no-effect concentration of 20 ppb for clothianidin, which is consistent to that of other neonicotinoids.

"One of our research scientists will make a public presentation next week at the International Congress of Entomology meeting in Orlando, Florida, in which he will discuss the similarities of the findings of these studies, as well as the merits of the new test protocol."

Responding to our story, a Syngenta spokesperson said:

"The EPA asked us to do this study and agreed the methodology. A sucrose based mechanism was used on the basis that it was required to expose bees artificially to Thiamethoxam to determine what actual level of residue would exert a toxic effect.

"There were transient effects observed and the reported No Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) for this study was 50 ppb (parts per billion). It is accepted that residues of Thiamethoxam in pollen and nectar from seed treated crops are in the single ppb level. So this reported NOAEL of 50 ppb indicates that honeybee colonies are at low risk from exposure to Thiamethoxam in pollen and nectar of seed treated crops.

"This research is already in the process of being published in a forthcoming journal and is clearly already publicly available through the Freedom of Information process in the United States."

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By Dr. David Suzuki | Climate | Sep. 21, 2016 11:28AM EST

World's Biggest Sockeye Run Shut Down as Wild Pacific Salmon Fight for Survival

Salmon have been swimming in Pacific Northwest waters for at least 7 million years, as indicated by fossils of large saber-tooth salmon found in the area. During that time, they've been a key species in intricate, interconnected coastal ecosystems, bringing nitrogen and other nutrients from the ocean and up streams and rivers to spawning grounds, feeding whales, bears and eagles and fertilizing the magnificent coastal rainforests along the way.

Salmon have been swimming in Pacific Northwest waters for at least seven million years.iStock

For as long as people have lived in the area, salmon have been an important food source and have helped shape cultural identities. But something is happening to Pacific coast salmon.

This year, British Columbia's sockeye salmon run was the lowest in recorded history. Commercial and First Nations fisheries on the world's biggest sockeye run on British Columbia's longest river, the Fraser, closed. Fewer than 900,000 sockeye out of a projected 2.2 million returned to the Fraser to spawn. Areas once teeming with salmon are all but empty.

Salmon define West Coast communities, especially Indigenous ones. The West Coast is a Pacific salmon forest. Today, salmon provide food and contribute to sustainable economies built on fishing and ecotourism. West Coast children learn about the salmon life cycle early in their studies.

Salmon migrations, stretching up to 3,000 kilometers, are among the world's most awe-inspiring. After spending adult lives in the ocean, salmon make the arduous trip up rivers against the current, returning to spawn and die where they hatched. Only one out of every thousand salmon manages to survive and return to its freshwater birthplace.

So what's going wrong? Climate change is amplifying a long list of stressors salmon already face. Sockeye salmon are sensitive to temperature changes, so higher ocean and river temperatures can have serious impacts. Even small degrees of warming can kill them. Low river flows from unusually small snowpacks linked to climate change make a tough journey even harder.

Oceans absorb the brunt of our climate pollution—more than 90 percent of emissions-trapped heat since the 1970s. Most warming takes place near the surface, where salmon travel, with the upper 75 meters warming 0.11 C per decade between 1971 and 2010. Although ocean temperatures have always fluctuated, climate change is lengthening those fluctuations. A giant mass of warmer-than-average water in the Pacific, known as "the blob," made ocean conditions even warmer, with El Niño adding to increased temperatures. Salmon have less food and face new predators migrating north to beat the heat.

Beyond creating poor environmental conditions for salmon, climate change increases disease risks. Warm conditions have led to sea lice outbreaks in farmed and wild salmon, and a heart and muscle inflammatory disease has been found in at least one farm. Scientists researching salmon movement through areas with farms are finding wild fish, especially young ones, with elevated parasite levels. Diseases that cause even slight deficiencies in swimming speed or feeding ability could make these marathon swimmers easy prey.

Some question whether wild salmon will remain a West Coast food staple. For the first time, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program has advised consumers to avoid buying chinook and coho from four South Coast fisheries. Researchers also predict changing conditions will drive important food fish north by up to 18 kilometers a decade.

Disappearing salmon don't just affect humans but all coastal ecosystems and wildlife. Eighty-two endangered southern resident killer whales depend on chinook salmon to survive. As chinook stocks go down, the likelihood that these whales could become extinct goes up.

Although the federal government has committed to implement recommendations from Justice Bruce Cohen's inquiry into Fraser River sockeye and to follow the Wild Salmon Policy, reversing this dire situation will take widespread concerted and immediate action. A weak provincial climate plan that fails to meet emissions targets and acceptance of new ocean-based fish farm applications won't help wild salmon. We need to move fish farms out of the water and onto land.

Salmon are resilient and have survived ice ages and other challenges over millions of years. They've survived having their streams paved over. They've survived toxins dumped into their environments. The question is, can they—and the ecosystems that depend on them—survive climate change and fish farms and all the other stressors humans are putting on them?

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By Dan Zukowski | Climate | Sep. 20, 2016 10:19AM EST

North American Moose Struggling for Survival

The official number of moose in Yellowstone National Park is 200. Unofficially, rangers told me that it could be as few as 80 animals. In other parts of the country, Minnesota has seen a dramatic decline in their moose population of 70 percent from 2006 to 2013, while in New Hampshire, 3,800 animals remain of the 7,500 present in the late 1990s.

One of only 80 moose in Yellowstone, struggling through winter.Photo credit: Dan Zukowski

There's no question about the cause. Warmer winters have increased ticks in the North Woods, which can weaken moose. Some animals are carrying as many as 120,000 ticks. They are so highly infected that they become anemic from blood loss as the ticks engorge themselves on their hosts.

Other moose rub so vigorously against the forest trees to remove ticks that they lose much of their characteristic dark brown coat. They're known as "ghost moose" for the pale skin that's revealed. That makes them more visible to predators and less able to cope with the cold winters in their environs.

Moose calf mortality is high, too. In New Hampshire, 75 percent of moose calves died from ticks over the winter of 2015-2016, while Maine's mortality rate was 60 percent.

Parasites, including brainworms (Parelaphostrogylus tenuis), are also taking a toll. Liver flukes (Fascioloides magna) and tapeworms have also been found in necropsies of moose in Minnesota. The tapeworms, which are carried by wolves, can fatally clog the lungs of a moose.

"Moose are under a firing line of things that are affecting their population," said Dr. Seth Moore, director of biology and environment for the Greater Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. "And I think ultimately that all these different things that are affecting the moose population are driven by climate change."

Speaking on a CBC documentary produced in 2015, Moore predicted that Minnesota moose could be gone in 50 years.

The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) also links the plight of moose to climate change.

"Heat affects moose directly, as summer heat stress leads to dropping weights, a fall in pregnancy rates, and increased vulnerability to disease," the NWF explains. "When it gets too warm, moose typically seek shelter rather than foraging for nutritious foods needed to keep them healthy."

Referencing New England's now-shorter winters, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department wistfully says, "The best ways to reduce the impacts of winter ticks would be to add back the three weeks of winter."

Moose populations are now a managed resource in most states. According to the NWF, 56,000 people hunt in New Hampshire and 630,000 enjoy wildlife watching. There is often a conflict between those who want to hunt moose and those who simply want to watch them. As a result of the decline in moose in Minnesota, hunting was suspended indefinitely in the state beginning in 2013.

Current range of moose in North America.Credit: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Overhunting decimated populations in the lower 48 states by the late 1800s, but conservation efforts enabled them to recover. Moose are listed as a species of least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. They cite a 2011 population of about 1 million in North America. However, other sources differ. There are no standardized national or international monitoring programs. Populations in any one area can change dynamically due to local conditions such as forest fires, unusually warm or cold winters, introduction of predators or new infestations.

In Maine, where I live, there's a healthy population of 60-70,000 moose—the largest in the lower 48 states. The state will issue 2,160 hunting permits this year, for a one-week season in late October.

The Penobscot Nation, who hosted me on their tribal lands last week, have a traditional story about a giant monster moose in a large lake. The Creator, Glooksap, slays the moose and eats it. He turns his kettle over and leaves it by the lake, where it turns into stone and is now the place known as Mount Kineo, in Moosehead Lake. The story points Penobscot hunters to a place were moose are abundant—even today—enabling them to feed their families. It was with this knowledge that I partook of the warm moose stew they fed me on a raw September evening along the Penobscot River. For the Penobscot, nothing is taken from the land without thanking Mother Earth.

Moose is an Algonquin term for "eater of twigs." An adult moose can consume 40 to 60 pounds of leaves, twigs and buds each day. In summer, they frequent ponds and lakes to feed on sodium-rich aquatic plants. Winter can be harsh, particularly where deep snow makes movement difficult. Average lifespan in the wild is 10 to 12 years. Black bears, along with mountain lions and wolves, where present, are predators, and coyotes may take some young calves.

Forest fires can benefit moose in certain circumstances. By creating open burned areas, more edge habitat is available for foraging. Moose may return to burned areas several months after a fire, leading to population density increases of five or six fold. Populations in a post-burn area will peak 10 to 30 years following the fire.

However, large fires may be followed by changes in the vegetation that replants the affected areas.

"Some burns produce a grassland stage; others come back in pure spruce; many produce aspen with little birch or willow which are the most palatable and productive browse plants," says a 2010 study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"Where can I see a moose?" is an oft-asked question by tourists to Alaska, Yellowstone, Northern New England and other areas where they can be found. Encountering one of these large, long-legged mammals in the wild is an event not soon forgotten. Future encounters may be fewer due to the risks created by climate change.

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By Dan Zukowski | Animals | Sep. 19, 2016 10:25AM EST

Norway to Kill 47 of Its Remaining 68 Wolves

Norway has announced plans to kill more than two-thirds of its remaining wolves, justifying the action as protection for livestock. The plan has sparked outrage by conservationists.

Three wolf packs, including pups, will be shot by hunters during Norway's annual hunting season, which runs from Oct. 1 to March 31. Last year, 11,571 people applied for licenses to kill just 16 wolves. This season's allotment would mark the largest wolf kill in the country since 1911.

"This is an outright mass slaughter. Something similar we have not seen in nearly 100 years, when the policy was that all large carnivores would be destroyed," Nina Jensen, CEO of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) of Norway, told The Guardian. "To shoot 70 percent of the wolf population is not worthy of an environmental nation."

She goes on to note, "This decision includes a wolf family in Letjenna who have not taken or eaten one sheep since they established themselves there in the winter of 2011/2012."

In Norway, farmers release about 2 million sheep to open grazing lands. Of these, estimates are that 120,000 go missing each year. Those lost include natural accidents, being hit by cars and trains, and predators including wolves and wolverines. Estimates for the numbers lost to wolf predation vary from 380 to 1,800 and may be influenced by Norway's compensation policy. Along with many other European countries, Norway compensates farmers for livestock losses due to wolves, creating an impetus for inflated numbers.

Europe has an estimated population of 13,000 wolves, with about 400 in Scandinavia. Protection for European wolves varies by country. Sweden and Norway have often been at odds in their approach to wolf management, where Norwegian's former government minister in charge of environmental issues, Erik Solheim, said in 2011, "Everyone knows that the wolf doesn't pay attention to borders. Wolves from Sweden can come into Norway and do great damage, and therefore it would help if can cooperate on this." Solheim is currently Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program.

In Western Europe, Spain has a population of 2,000-3,000 wolves, but can be hunted in most areas. Italy's 600-700 wolves are protected and the population is growing at about six percent a year. Countries in Eastern Europe including Poland, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Turkey have populations ranging from 700 to 7,000.

Wolf skins for sale at the Bergen fish market in Norway.Credit: Wikipedia Commons

Conservation biologist Crystal Crown writes, "It does appear that Norwegian farmers have a vendetta against wolves that is not rooted in fact, but rather fear and hate. If anything, the culling program could serve to reinforce these fears by making the farmers feel justified." She notes that Norway maintains its wolf population at around 20 animals, calling it "artificially low numbers."

The wolf hunt in Norway comes as a recent study, published Sept. 1 in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, questions the effectiveness of predator control on livestock protection.

"Livestock owners traditionally use various non-lethal and lethal methods to protect their domestic animals from wild predators. However, many of these methods are implemented without first considering experimental evidence of their effectiveness in mitigating predation-related threats or avoiding ecological degradation," states the report.

It remains to be seen whether the protests by the WWF and others will have any impact on Norway's plans.

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By Kristin Falzon | Animals | Sep. 19, 2016 09:07AM EST

Orangutan Sheds a Tear During Heart-Warming Moment With Pregnant Woman

A popular orangutan at a zoo in England is making headlines again after he was seen on video having a touching moment with a pregnant woman.

Kayley Bettany was visiting Colchester Zoo in Essex with her husband, Kieran, when the zoo's 48-year-old great ape, Rajang, came over and started caressing her belly through the glass.

"When he started playing around with my bump through the glass it amazed me," Kayley told The Daily Mail. "I never thought the orangutan would react this way—he even had a tear in his eye."

The Bettanys have since been back to see Rajang with their daughter, Brooke.

This isn't the first time Rajang has been seen on video completely enthralled with a bun in the oven. Last year, Maisie Knight was at the zoo when her partner Jamie Clarke told her to put her baby bump up against the glass.

Clarke caught the sweet exchange on video, which he later posted on YouTube, of Rajang kissing her bump through the glass.

"Me and my 37 week pregnant partner visited Colchester zoo and [were] amazed when we visited Rajang the orangutan," he wrote on the post. "She is heavily pregnant and before long he was trying to kiss my partner's belly through the glass ... Truly a special animal that has touched our hearts."

As the video gained the attention of the world via social media, the zoo acknowledged Rajang's curiosity and penchant to interact with visitors:

"Rajang has always been a curious orangutan! He loves belly buttons, scars and of course baby bumps! His inquisitive way means he loves to interact with visitors particularly those who might be expecting!"

Following Rajang's most recent exchange, two keepers at the zoo who are expecting are taking his interest one step further to see if he can predict what the sex of their baby will be.

Orangutans, like Rajang, are native to Indonesia and Malaysia, and are currently found only in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra.

In Indonesia, scientists say the extraordinary Leuser Ecosystem is among the most important forests left in Southeast Asia and is critically important to the continued survival of species including orangutans, tigers, rhinos and elephants. However, it is being lost to palm oil production.

The issue was recently exposed in a short video from the team behind the film Racing Extinction. The video shows how the blind growth in demand for palm oil—the cheapest vegetable oil on the planet which is found in more than half of all packaged goods in an average local supermarket—has recklessly pushed massive, industrial-scale plantations deeper into the heart of Indonesia's rainforests.

"Given the scale of the climate and biodiversity crisis, we must act now to stop the bulldozing of the Leuser Ecosystem for palm oil," Chelsea Matthews, forest campaigner at Rainforest Action Network, said upon the film's release.

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By Kristin Falzon | Animals | Sep. 16, 2016 11:04AM EST

100-Year-Old Tortoise Fathers 800 Offspring in Fight to Save Species

He may be well over 100 years old, but Diego the Tortoise still has plenty of charm and he's using it to ensure that his species lives on.

The giant Galapagos tortoise has been "working" since the 1960s—when there were only 14 wild tortoises, two of which were male, left on Española—to save his native species from the brink of extinction. And he's doing an impressive job.

Based on recent genetic studies, Diego has single-handedly fathered an estimated 800 offspring—40 percent of the 2,000 captive-bred tortoises that have since been released into the wild.

"He's a very sexually active male reproducer. He's contributed enormously to repopulating the island," tortoise preservation specialist, Washington Tapia, from the Galapagos National Park, told the AFP.

Scientists say Diego is the dominant male of the three assigned to repopulate the island, and weighs about 175 pounds, is nearly 35 inches long and 5 feet tall.

While most of Diego's history remains a mystery, scientists do know he was discovered at the San Diego Zoo in the 1950s. After being located at the zoo, Diego was brought back to the Galapagos in 1976 and put in the captive breeding program, AFP reported. He currently lives at a tortoise breeding center on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos, where he and six females share an enclosure.

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By Common Dreams | Climate | Sep. 16, 2016 10:49AM EST

1.5 Billion Birds Lost in North America Since 1970s

By Nika Knight

North America has lost more than 1.5 billion birds over the past 40 years, says the most comprehensive survey of landbird populations in Canada and the U.S. to date, and 86 species are threatened with total extinction—all thanks to human-caused habitat destruction and climate change.

Golden-winged warblers are one of the North American species most at risk for complete extinction. Caleb Putnam / Flickr

"Among those 86 species, 22 have already lost at least half of their population since 1970 and are projected to lose another 50 percent of their numbers within the next 40 years," reported the Canadian Press. "For at least six species, this 'half-life' window is fewer than 20 years."

"The information on urgency is quite alarming," study co-author Judith Kennedy of Environment Canada said to the Canadian Press. "We're really getting down to the dregs of some of these populations."

"I don't want my grandchild to go out in the forest and not hear the songbirds in the spring and that seems to be where we're headed right now," Andrew Couturier, senior analyst at Bird Studies Canada and a co-author of the report, told the Globe and Mail.

The report by Canadian conservation group Partners in Flight was released in August but was first widely reported on Wednesday by the Canadian Press and Globe and Mail.

The California condor, Gunnison sage grouse, ivory-billed woodpecker and Bachman's warbler are a few of the more well-known species on Partners in Flight's "Red Watch List," meaning they are the most at risk of extinction.

Those facing the most dramatic population declines are grassland birds, sagebrush and desert scrub species "and forest species dependent on specialized structural features or natural disturbance," the report says.

Indeed, another recent study just confirmed that the habitat of endangered sage grouses in 11 western U.S. states is being torn up because of "rampant" oil, gas and gold mining, precipitating the devastating loss of most of their chicks, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

The Globe and Mail noted:

"Even relatively abundant birds are dwindling in number, the report says. Chimney swifts, field sparrows and short-eared owls are among the common species that have lost more than half of their populations since 1970 and are expected to lose half of their current level in 40 years or less."

"Birds are often a bellwether of broader ecological health," Kennedy said to the Globe and Mail. Kennedy "noted that sickly birds were an early warning sign of the environmental damage caused by the pesticide DDT a generation ago."

"In some ways, the status of these birds could indicate the status of our own health," Kennedy warned.

This article was reposted with permission from our media associate Common Dreams.

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By Kristin Falzon | Climate | Sep. 15, 2016 01:23PM EST

Hungry Polar Bears Trap Scientists Inside Arctic Weather Station

A team of Russian scientists on a remote Arctic island were rescued by a passing ship after being trapped for days inside their weather station by hungry polar bears.

The Polar Bear Programme

The scientists were staying on Troynoy Island located in the Kara Sea north of Siberia when, on Aug. 31, a polar bear ate one of their two dogs and wouldn't leave.

Researchers' encounters with polar bears on Troynoy Island is fairly common, Vassiliy Shevchenko, head of the Sevgidromet State Monitoring Network, told The Guardian.

However, Yelena Novikova, a spokeswoman for Sevgidromet, told The Guardian the ongoing reduction in sea ice due to climate change has caused the polar bear population to grow increasingly aggressive.

"The ice receded quickly and the bears didn't have time to swim to other islands," Novikova said. "There's no food on [Troynoy] island, so they came up to the station."

Vadim Plotnikov, the head of the weather station on Troynoy Island, told TASS Russian News Agency there were about 10 adult bears, including four female bears with cubs, spotted around the weather station. One of the female bears even started sleeping underneath one of the windows, Plotnikov said.

Trapped inside and out of flares to spook the bears, the team became desperate. They called for help and were told they would have to wait a month for the next scheduled supply ship. But then, help arrived. A Russian expedition ship was able to reach them and give the scientists the dogs and flares they needed, TASS reported Wednesday. The ship's crew even helped them scare off the bears.

Polar bears are registered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and in the Red Book of Russia as an endangered species.

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By Rodale Wellness | Animals | Sep. 15, 2016 01:02PM EST

7 Natural Ingredients You Should Add to Your Dog's Diet

By Lucy Postins

Those of us who are dog obsessed may have a shelf in our pantry set aside to hold the ingredients for healthy meals and treats for our dogs. Or we may have cleared space in our closets for special shampoos, dog brushes and conditioners that will make our pup's fur oh, so soft.

Pexels

But don't forget that some foods have wonderful medicinal properties and are worth keeping in your pantry or fridge at all times.

Adapted from Dog Obsessed.

This article was reposted with permission from our media associate Rodale Wellness.

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