Although it might surprise you to hear, I struggle with my own ideas on animal care legislation.  I struggle especially when it comes to the matters of companion animal legislation.  It wounds me to the core to find myself unable to stand shoulder to shoulder with many good people.  Warm-hearted, well-intentioned people who work so hard to provide a safety net for people, from the unfortunate to the financially strapped to the irresponsible, and their animals.  That’s when it struck me that we have been manipulated into a civil war of sorts, and I resent it greatly.  When I say ‘we’,  I mean breeder, rescue, shelter & owner, all of us, especially when it comes to dogs. 

A person I know through my love of dogs put it to me so well yesterday, “There is no other animal on earth with which we have such a unique, almost symbiotic relationship as we do the dog.”  I agree with her completely.   So would the overwhelming majority of  ‘dog people’.  This love, this bond, this tie to the days when our species had only begun to come to awareness of the difference between ourselves and the rest of the animal world, is a precious one.  As we elevate our perception of ourselves and our place in the world, we likewise try to elevate our perception of dogs.  We try and make them closer to us, bestowing them with a complexity of thought, motive and perception that we need for ourselves.   They exist in the Now, something that we find so hard to with that special consciousness that humans developed.  Yet, practically every dog person knows the peace of those moments with their dog where they can just ‘be’.  In many ways, we need dog even more than dog needs us. 

This love, this bond is so easy to use against us.  With love comes the urge to protect; an emotion that overwhelms our critical thinking.  In our emotion we become more animal, we become less human.   We become a mob, a herd, a pack.  In our blind urge to protect that which is precious to us, we can easily destroy the very things that allow us to protect our beloved companions from those who would interfere.  The majority of people on both sides of the ‘Dog Wars’ are in the fight for the same reasons, to protect & preserve that which they believe to be precious. 

How to codify these kinds of perspectives into law without shackling all dog breeders and still meet the human demand for dogs?  Its the line between the philosophical/moral and the legal position that I struggle with.  Where should my beliefs on the what/where/when/how of dog breeding and dog care, or of any animal, affect the rights of another to do so beyond basic humane definitions?  Should my experiences &  limitations restrict another person with different limitations and different experience? 

I ask, for the love of dog, why are those who similarly love dogs following the lead of individuals without such a bond of affection?  In the dividing of the ranks of those who love dogs by those who are not informed by such perspective, the casualties are both the dogs and ourselves.  Choose what makes you human(e), mind & heart.

Copyright 2009 by Erica Saunders   http://AR-HR.com
All rights reserved

The Pet Parent movement is everywhere these days with people talking about pets as ‘furkids’ and themselves as pet parents.  As the owner of a young dog and two senior cats, I completely understand referring to a pet as ‘Baby’ as term of endearment.   I also understand the wish to express how a pet is an integral part of the family. Unfortunately, the psychology of the ‘pet parent’ movement doesn’t always serve the interests of pets.

The role of a parent is to raise their child to make their own way in the society as independent individuals. Fundamentally, parents aren’t expected to be responsible for their child forever.  Children are expected to eventually make their way alone.  Contrast this with the idea of ownership, in which there is no implied end date to owner’s responsibility to the owned. 

Ownership is not a dirty word or a term to be disparaged.  To own one’s pets is to take ownership for one’s pets.  To take ownership for an animal is to take responsibility for the animal’s need.  George H Morris, a consummate horseman and Chief of the US Olympic Show Jumping team once said, “Love means attention, which means looking after the things we love. We call it stable management.”  This statement holds true for every responsible pet owner, animal breeder, farmer, equestrian and zoo keeper. The language we use may differ but taking ownership means being responsible, being responsible means paying attention.

 Paying attention means recognizing pets, unlike children, will never grow up and make their own way in the world. 

  Copyright 2009 by Erica Saunders   http://AR-HR.com
All rights reserved