39 of 100 DOCUMENTS The Boston Herald May 4, 2003 Sunday ALL EDITIONS OP-ED; Man's best friend maybe only in name BYLINE: By Arnold Arluke and Jack Levin SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. 026 LENGTH: 822 words Two recent incidents involving dogs reveal the ugly truth about how we, as a society, regard animals. In one case, police cited Jarrod Martin of Nashville, Tenn., for disorderly conduct and reckless endangerment because he rescued his pet pit bull from his burning apartment. Against the orders of firefighters on the scene, Martin risked his own safety by crossing a safety line and climbing into his burning second-floor apartment. After breaking through a glass entryway, he flung his dog and himself over a balcony to safety. Firefighters had known the dog was in the apartment but were unwilling to take action, claiming that it was unsafe to do so. In a second case last week, a dog injured in a car accident, obviously in pain, was shot in the head by a police officer in Clearlake, Calif., to put it out of its misery. It was then put in a freezer to await disposal. As it turned out, the lucky dog was found to be alive. After thawing out and getting veterinary care, the dog miraculously survived to be reunited with its happy owners. Both rescues involved life-and-death situations for dogs and, in one case, for people. Both are dramatic stories with shocking details, surprise events and happy endings: The dogs survived harrowing circumstances in which death seemed inevitable. However, both incidents tell a more important story about what Americans really think about "man's best friends" when the chips are down. To many people, dogs are really not "members of the family" after all. Many Americans TALKabout how their animal companions are treated as well or even better than are humans. Unfortunately, though some people do lavish attention, affection and financial resources on their pets, many others do just the opposite - they are neglectful, abusive, even cruel. All the talk about being "family members" may be just that - talk. The litmus test for applying this standard is to substitute "human" for "dog" in the two scenarios above, and then ask what the outcome would have been. In the dog-trapped-in-burning-home incident, the firefighters likely would have been charged with gross neglect of duty and perhaps endured public humiliation and shame for not intervening. In the dog-taken-for-dead-then-discarded incident, the police officer would have been charged with attempted murder. Would the firefighters have waited so patiently to rescue a child trapped in the flames? Just to put her out of her misery, would a police officer have shot a woman who had been injured in an automobile accident? If the result were the same, then dogs truly would be members of the family - small-legged, furry creatures that can assume multiple human identities as children, siblings and companions. If the result is sharply different, however, then we need to stop using the family-member metaphor and admit that dogs are - when it really comes down to it - nothing more than dogs. Though many people regard dogs as family members, their behavior does not always follow suit. This disconnect between attitudes and behavior is strikingly obvious when we look at how our society deals with animal abuse and neglect. Every year, thousands of animals around the country are victims of malicious cruelty. There is much public support to take strong measures against this kind of behavior. According to one national survey, when it comes to cruelty, dogs are not just dogs. Some 71 percent of adults favor making animal abuse a felony. And 81 percent approve strengthening the enforcement of cruelty laws. About 83 percent favor teachers, social workers, animal welfare officers and law enforcement officials sharing information on juveniles who abuse animals as an early warning sign of criminal behavior. And 75 percent support the establishment of a system for tracking adult animal cruelty offenders as a tool for identifying other kinds of likely violent offenses. These attitudes do not translate into behavior. Even in the most extreme cases, a majority of the animal abusers are not found guilty in court. Most don't even get to trial. When they do, they typically receive a slap on the wrist for a misdemeanor rather than face felony charges. In some states, only one in 10 of those convicted receive jail sentences. And fines are minimal when imposed, averaging $ 132. If the same crimes of violence were committed against children, the abusers likely would face stiff penalties. Like apple pie and motherhood, everyone claims to like dogs - many say they love them. These positive attitudes are built into our culture and passed on to future generations, but so too is our poor treatment of animals. It is an American problem because in the end, people will be people but dogs are only dogs. Arnold Arluke is professor of sociology at Northeastern University and author of "Regarding Animals." Jack Levin is director of the Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict also at Northeastern. LOAD-DATE: May 04, 2003 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH Copyright 2003 Boston Herald Inc. |