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Hunt for first dog hits a wall
President-elect Barack Obama is on a quest to find a White House dog that his allergic daughter can live with, but allergists have a news flash: There's no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog.
- AP
- Published: 23:54 November 13, 2008
Chicago: President-elect Barack Obama is on a quest to find a White House dog that his allergic daughter can live with, but allergists have a news flash: There's no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog.
Doctors who specialise in children's allergies say those who are truly allergic to dogs probably shouldn't get one.
So Malia and Sasha, how about a fish instead? Obama has said his young daughters have been promised a dog with their move to the White House. And in his first post-election news conference last week, he announced that Malia "is allergic, so it has to be hypoallergenic".
It's a common misconception. In response, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology issued a statement saying: "There is no truly 'hypoallergenic' dog."
Misconception
Another misconception is "that people are allergic to a dog's hair, and it is falsely believed that a dog that sheds less will not cause a reaction", the academy said.
While some people with dog allergies say some breeds cause them more problems than others, there isn't any scientific proof to back that up, said the academy's Dr Clifford Bassett, a New York City allergy specialist. All dogs produce proteins that can cause allergies.
These proteins are found in dogs' dander - which is dead skin cells, not fur - and saliva and urine, explained Dr Elizabeth Matsui, a children's allergy expert at Johns Hopkins Children's Centre.
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