Changing attitudes toward companion animals

RICHARD AVANZINO

Abstract

Our society is going to the dogs (and cats) - and just in time, too.

As our culture becomes more surreal and impersonal humans are turning to their animal companions to re-establish contact with the true rhythm and meaning of life. What Thomas Jefferson called 'nature and nature's God'. Or, as Joni Mitchell said, 'We've got to get back to the Garden'. Animals are our guides on that journey.

This paper seeks to explore the pathways.

Introduction

The human-animal bond stretches back into pre-history. Though the dog and cat were probably domesticated for utilitarian purposes (the dog for hunting and protecting, the cat for catching vermin) it didn't take long before humans began prizing these animals for their sheer companionship.

Our attitudes have gone through cyclical changes ever since. The ancient Egyptians revered cats so much that when one died all the human members of its household shaved their eyebrows and went into deep mourning for a year. But by the 13th century Europeans considered cats to be agents for the devil and very nearly exterminated them (leading, ironically, to the bubonic plague epidemic of the 14th century, which was carried by rats).

Now, at the end of the 20th century, our attitudes are shifting again - this time in a decidedly pro-animal direction. The most obvious evidence is a recent Gallup poll in which 55% of American pet owners rejected both the term 'pet' and the term 'owner'. Instead they prefer to think of themselves as parents and their animals as surrogate children.

Their attitudes are reflected in their behaviour:

• 65% give their pets Christmas presents
• 48% give their pets special foods designed for their age or dietary needs
• 41% display their pet's picture on a mantelpiece or wall at home
• 29% prepare home-cooked meals for their pets
• 24% celebrate their pet's birthday
• 17% carry their pet's picture in their wallet or purse

In a sharp departure from tradition, only 12% put the family cat out at night any longer. In fact, given a hypothetical choice of whose company they'd prefer if they were stranded on a desert island, more than half (54%) said they'd rather have a dog or cat than another human.

Of course, sentimentalising companion animals is nothing new. In the 18th century, George Washington named his two favourite dogs 'Truelove' and 'Sweetlips'. Anyone who has read Dickens or Trollope remembers those endless scenes of Victorian heroines gushing over their lapdogs.

But I believe the current trend is something different. Instead of anthropomorphising our pets as the Victorians did, turning them into ersatz humans, we are learning to appreciate their animal natures. Instead of valuing them for the work we can get from them, we are starting to value them for what they can teach us.

About the author

Richard Avanzino

President, The San Francisco SPCA

2500 16th Street

San Francisco, CA 94703

Telephone: (415) 554-3000

Fax: (415) 552-7041

E-mail: publicinfo@sfspca.org

Richard Avanzino has been President of The San Francisco SPCA for 20 years. In that time, he has transformed it

into one of the premier no-kill shelters in the United States. Among the many groundbreaking programs he has

instituted are the Hearing Dog Program, the Doggy Daycare Centre, the Pet Grooming College and the Sido Service,

which places SF/SPCA members' pets in loving new homes after their original owners die.

But the crowning achievement of Mr Avanzino's administration was the Adoption Pact signed in 1994 between The

SF/SPCA and the city shelter. Under the terms of the pact every adoptable cat or dog in San Francisco is guaranteed

a home. Since the pact not one single adoptable dog or cat has been euthanased in a San Francisco shelter. This is a

record no other city in the United States can match.

In addition to leading The SF/SPCA, with its $8.3 million annual budget, its 130-plus staff and its more than 2,000

volunteers, Mr Avanzino also writes a weekly column that runs in seven different San Francisco Bay area

newspapers. He, his wife, son, two dogs, a cat and a canary, live in Moraga, California, in which he served as

Mayor in 1989.

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