Our Pets, Enduring Us Part I

OUR PETS are miserable, according to various studies, says animal ethnicist Jessica Pierce. She made her remarks on an interview on National Public Radio. A vast majority of dogs suffer from one form of anxiety disorder or another, says Pierce. Her findings have been confirmed, allegedly, by earlier studies of animal behavior, particularly dogs and cats living in households. Pierce stated that although she currently has a pet dog, it will be her last. She goes so far as to advocate an end to pet ownership, which, needless to say, has generated considerable controversy, Although a vast majority, as many as eighty percent, of the world's dogs are homeless and roam free, they, the free ranging dogs, are far more satisfied with their lives and surroundings than their peers living in "captivity", animal scientists seem to believe. The same holds for cats, among which the homeless, feral variety greatly outnumber those domesticated. The primary source of their misery is their confinement. In a feral state, dogs tend to gather together in packs, like their wolf cousins and ancestors, while cats, who are essentially solitary animals, also form into loosely knit communities, usually near reliable food sources. The deprivation of community is evident. For that reason, pet owners often care for more than one pet, two or more dogs, two or more cats, or a combination of the two. Food acquisition is the primary source of their discontent. Both species have strong hunting instincts. Cats are especially adept at hunting, and are considered among the world's most efficient hunters. Dogs likewise are good hunters, in groups. The basis of their unhappiness is the deprivation of all opportunities for hunting, which is among their most basic instinctive behaviors. They seem to prefer foraging for their own food to being fed by people. Living in a made for humans environment deprives them of not only their most essential behavior, but of any sense of purpose at all; all living creatures have a purpose; more intelligent species need and have an awareness, a "sense" of purpose". Our precious pets, it would seem, are in effect prisoners trapped within the confinement of the madr for human environments we provide for them. We humans, ever projecting our own emotions on to other creatures, both human and non human, derive perhaps our greatest pleasure from pet "ownership". We tend, quite naturally,tend to mistakenly assume that our pets are as happy with us as we are with them. In the United States alone, more than forty million dogs and forty million cats live with human caregivers. The joy felt by the caretakers is, so it seems, not reciprocal. Everyone knows the grief experienced by people at the death of a beloved pet. Arguably, there is no greater grief among humans. Similarly, numerous anecdotal instances seem to verify that dogs and cats grieve no less when their human companions vanish or die. Most people have seen photographs of dogs lingering at the gravesite of a recently deceased human companion. Maybe they do grieve. Or perhaps what we interpret as grief is in fact a far less extreme emotion. Our ability to interpret behavior is limited, and our ability to read minds is nonexistant. Another consideration is that although the behavior of any household pet can be monitored, measured, and to a certaine xtent interpretated, we can never, by definition, know the state of mind of the same animal had that animal been allowed to live its life in the wild, or free to roam at will in a city. Since no individual, human, dog, or cat, can simultaneously live two divergent lives, direct comparisions are impossible. There are solutions which can mitigate their unhappiness. Dogs can be allowed to chose their own route on walks, can be let of the leash to roam around a little and explore their environment. Cats can be allowed to go outside, or to live both indoors and outdoors, alternating environments, within limits. Rural environemnts appear preferable. One fact remains certain. People want what's best for their beloved animal companions, and, in most instances, are willing to strive to provide it. Most disconcerting is that thought that the best way to accomplish this might be to simply allow them their complete freedom by giving them up.