Are Pets Property?
by John Reese
IJ Correspondent

Tracing the relationshiop of people and animals back in time, at some point people asserted "ownership" with all the rights and responsibilities appurtenant there to. When that happened, animals became "property."

There are a few problems with this concept. For instance, my dog, Dolly, does not take kindly to the notion that she is kin to a refrigerator. One refrigerator is pretty much like ever other refrigerator, taking style, color and ice-making capabilities into consideration. However, every dog is a unique, sentient being with feelings and interetins. When a sentient creature is categorized as property, it has no legal rights of its own. It can either be sold and dumped, or nurtured and cherished.

It has been propposed that companion animals be treated more like children them property so that instead of having owners they would have guardians. Guardians would be required to meet standards of care and responsibility. Cruelty statues would be broadened. Gurardians woud not ony be criminally liable for abusing and neglecting their companions, but failing to meet community standards of care would also result in civil action to remove the animal from a miscreant’s custody.

However, we would need to get used to several new identifying words and phrases: guardian instead of owner; animal companion instead of pet; custody and care insted of ownership. Some find the current lexicon offensive, including refearring to animals at an "it" rather than as "him" or "her." (Although admittedly, sometimes it is hard to tell the differences. Collars in pink or blue would help, but then again, does gender matter? And, I did use "it" three times in the second paragraphs.) Others find it benign and, frankly, reflective of the current reality.

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