Jennifer Gardner, a freelance writer and editor and a board member at Heartland Humane Society in Corvallis, Oregon, wrote a commentary in the Albany Democrat-Herald concerning the adding of fluoride in tap water, and danger it poses to dogs.

There is a bill being considered in the Oregon State Legislature, HB 2025, which would require every city with more than 10,000 residents be required to add fluoride to the drinking water.

Gardner writes that there is a lot of discussion that fluoridated water can pose health risks to dogs:

I think it would be tough to make an argument that ingested fluoride helps our animals in any way. In fact, numerous studies on the safety of fluoride, conducted on animals, show lots of problems. One 1998 study, for example, found that rats given water with 1 part per million of sodium or aluminum fluoride for one year showed damage to their kidneys and brains, increased aluminum in their brains and began to form brain plaques that are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease in humans.

Fluoride makes a difference to dental health when it's applied topically. That is true for our companion animals like dogs and cats, too - fluoride can be used to enhance their dental health when used or approved by a veterinarian. But when any - and there are quite a few - scientific studies show that ingested fluoride accumulates in animals' brains and exposure can alter mental behavior much like known neurotoxins, is this a substance we want our pets to get in their water?

Frankly, I don't want government adding anything to the water, other than what is necessary to make the water safe for consumption. I'll take care of my own teeth thank you.

Otherwise, where does this stop? Should they next add some Vitamin C? How about some extra Calcium, and while they're at it, some Phosphorus to help you absorb that Calcium? What about a little Sodium Pentathol to make sure you tell the truth? Or better yet, some Ritalin to keep us all calm?