Grafton's Cummings School Joins ARL In Call To Dispose Of PPE

GRAFTON, MA — The Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, located in Grafton, is joining a chorus of animal activists and health experts in calling on people to properly dispose of face masks.

Cummings along with the Animal Rescue League of Boston, the Massachusetts Veterinary Medicine Association and several other organizations are highlighting the increase in animals getting sick from eating face masks and personal protective equipment that wasn't properly thrown away.

The ARL said it had taken care of a dog that recently needed emergency surgery to remove the paper masks he had ingested. The organization said masks can smell like food, and dogs or wildlife can mistake them for food. Ingesting the masks can cause massive stomach upset or intestinal blockages, and the metal nose wire in masks may cause a variety of health issues, including stomach and esophageal tears, as well as sepsis, which may prove fatal if not treated.

The best way to get rid of face masks and PPE is throwing them away in a covered garbage, so that wildlife can't get into it.

The ARL offered some signs to keep in mind in case an animal has eaten a face mask:

• vomiting
• diarrhea
• abdominal tenderness or pain
• decreased appetite (know as anorexia)
• straining to defecate or producing small amounts of feces
• lethargy
• changes in behavior such as biting or growling when picked up or handled around the abdomen