Dogs Are Animals Too

    People have stopped respecting pets as wild animals.  There are many different animals kept in captivity, and the details of how they are kept vary greatly, but the basic truths are the same.  They need to be contained and kept from temperature extremes.  They need veterinary care.  They need to be prevented from injuring or frightening other persons or animals, and kept from harm.  They need good appropriate nutrition.  They need an environment that allows them adequate movement and mental stimulation. They need exercise.  They need caregivers who understand their behavioral framework and do not expect them to be something other than what they are. They are a HUGE, life-defining commitment that should be undertaken only by people with the intellectual, spiritual, emotional, temporal, financial, and environmental resources and the unwavering commitment to do so.  I believe this whether it is a poodle, a hamster, an endangered lemur, a Kodiak bear, or a wolf.

   That people think dogs and cats should be treated casually simply because we have been abusing them for longer makes me furious. Every single animal that we keep captive is a magnificent wonder that should be treasured and respected for what it is, and loved and kept safe in every way... And within every dog are instincts and urges that we ignore at our own peril.  And so people treat them like "pets" and leave them alone with their infants or next to a road or with access to the neighbors cats and are shocked when their little pet turns out to be an animal after all.