The impact of air pollution on petcare utilization

There is a large literature documenting the adverse impacts of air pollution on human health. In contrast, there is a paucity of research studying the effects of air pollution on animal health. We fill this gap, utilizing five years of data on over seven million visits to veterinary practices across the United Kingdom. Leveraging within-city variation in daily monitor-measured air pollution levels, we find that increases in fine particulate matter (i.e., PM2.5) lead to significant increases in the number of vet visits for both cats and dogs. In aggregate, these estimates indicate that reducing ambient PM2.5 levels to a maximum of 5µg/m3 as recommended by the World Health Organization would result in eighty thousand fewer vet visits each year (a 0.4% reduction).