Target: Director General Monique Éloit, World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), Paris, France
Goal: Launch and enforce a global One Health plan that confronts the surge of obesity, diabetes, and cancer in pets, livestock, and wildlife with mandatory surveillance, breed-welfare reforms, and stronger prevention standards.
A new peer-reviewed study links a sharp rise in animal non-communicable diseases to human-driven pressures. Pets and farm animals are facing the same “silent killers” that plague people- obesity, diabetes, cardio-metabolic disease, cancer. Researchers tie these outcomes to selective breeding for appearance or productivity, highly processed diets, chronic stress, polluted environments, and climate-intensified heat. The signals are not subtle. Vets see more overweight dogs and cats. Dairy cows develop metabolic disorders at troubling rates. Wild species face heat waves and degraded habitats that push physiology past safe limits.
The paper’s authors and veterinary experts warn that surveillance is fractured. Data on long-term animal illness is thin, patchy, and slow. Global systems track infections yet neglect chronic disease. That gap hides suffering. It also hides costs to food systems, conservation, and families who love and care for animals. Without comparable data across countries, regulators cannot prove what works. Nor can they act fast when prevention fails.
This petition urges WOAH to act now. Establish a global framework that requires member countries to monitor and report animal NCDs. Align feed standards and labeling with prevention goals. Curb selective-breeding practices that increase disease risk. Fund climate-heat mitigation for animals under human care. Publish public dashboards. Tie compliance to trade and aid where lawful. Animals deserve more than sympathy. They deserve a plan that prevents pain before it starts.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Director General Éloit,
We respectfully urge WOAH to initiate a binding One Health program that addresses the surge of non-communicable diseases in animals. Recent research and clinical experience show rising obesity, diabetes, cardio-metabolic disease, and cancer among companion animals, livestock, and even wildlife under human care. These conditions reflect preventable drivers such as selective breeding for traits that compromise health, ultra-processed diets, chronic stress, environmental pollution, and climate-related heat.
Current surveillance tools emphasize infections while long-term illness remains largely uncounted. That deficit obscures suffering and delays solutions. It also shifts costs onto farmers, shelters, and families. We ask WOAH to require standardized national reporting on animal NCDs, publish comparable dashboards, and resource member states to meet those obligations. Please pair this with guidance that curbs harmful breeding practices, improves nutrition and labeling, and mitigates heat and environmental stress for animals in human systems.
A clear international standard will save lives, reduce economic losses, and align animal health with public health. We ask you to act with urgency and set a timetable for implementation that countries cannot ignore.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: Joanna Servaes
