Smokers unwilling to kick off the habit may consider giving up cigarettes for the benefit of their pets, researchers said in the journal Tobacco Control Monday.

A survey conducted by U.S. researchers showed that 28 percent of pet owners who smoke would try to quit to spare their pets the harmful effects of second-hand smoke.

"It's not necessarily that people love their pets more than they love themselves or their children, it's just another motivational factor for people to consider quitting smoking," said Sharon Milberger, an epidemiologist at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

Asking smokers to quit for the sake of their pets may be an appealing new way to get them to throw away their cigarettes. Of the 71 million pet owners in the United States, about a fifth are smokers, Milberger estimated.

Just as second-hand smoke can harm people, it can raise a pet's risk of lung cancer and other forms of cancer, allergies, eye and skin diseases and respiratory problems, the researchers added.

The findings came from a Web-based survey of 3,293 U.S. pet owners, mostly from Michigan.

(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2009)