Raise your paw when you hear the beep

Raise your paw when you hear the beep


Dogs will often eat anything, including grandpa’s expensive hearing aid. But new research may eventually place hearing aids on dogs instead of in them.

Using pediatric hearing tests, scientists have uncovered congenital deafness in 60 dog breeds. These findings are important to pet owners and vital to police, rescue and other personnel who often depend on the acute senses of service canines for their very lives.

The research is also investigating excessive noise in zoos, pounds and kennels, which increases stress and damages the hearing of both employees and their furry tenants.

As it progresses, hearing research is moving into horses and marine animals, improving the noise levels in barns and aquariums. All this has implications for both human and animal welfare.

So three cheers for veterinary hearing research! But shhh … not too loud.

 

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