This week, I take a swim in the murky waters of animal “ownership,” Vs. “Guardianship.” It’s not all about language, but that’s a good place to start!
Some links mentioned in today’s post:
- Guardianship program – In Defense of Animals
- Vox Felina
- Jack The Cat’s Facebook Page
- What is the legal value of a cat?
We regret that Jackson does not answer questions posted in the comments. This is due to his demanding schedule and the high volume of requests he receives. But most importantly, since he has not met your cat, it would be contrary to his approach for him to give specific personalized advice for your specific situation. That being said, general questions and issues are addressed throughout this blog, in his book CAT DADDY and of course, the show My Cat From Hell.
I love what you said about “getting rid of” I have heard that so many times I go blue in the face trying not to scream back “what do you mean you HAVE to get rid of”.
I do try to explain that what they are saying is they would like to “rehome” there pet however these people seem to think that there are 10 homes for every one cat.
I have also asked “would you get rid of your children” and all I get is a blank look that says are you crazy?
I am not sure there is any getting through to these people….but for the sake of the cats I will keep trying and trying and trying some more
I have never understood how people can just dump pets. I don’t understand how one can enmesh and entwine one’s life with a living creature that loves and recognizes and knows you, then just casually dispose of that creature. I have trouble pulling up a dying seasonal plant in my garden; I could never walk away from someone I had chosen to spend my days on earth with. I agree that moving away from concepts of pet “ownership” is a step in the right direction, but will be very hard given the mindset of Western culture, the same mindset behind so much of the planetary destruction. I’m not 100% sure, though, that “guardianship” is necessarily the right word to replace ownership with. In law, guardianship implies that someone is incompetent, whether through age or other reason. Partnership, maybe??
i agree with your views on the “it” factor…..i however take it one step further i don’t call myself the owner i call myself their human or they are my fur babies or just plain babies….and i don’t consider myself their guardian either…..i consider myself their mother lol i may be crazy but if i adopt a child i won’t say i am their guardian i will say i am their mom why should it be any different with a cat?
I’m so glad you brought this up! As you know, veterinarians as a group are 100% opposed to introducing the term “guardian” into law, as Boulder, CO and a few other places have done. (BTW, there have been NO negative repercussions in those places, despite the massive fear-mongering about it!) See, vets want to have it both ways. They want the guardian (“owner”) to have such a deep emotional bond with their animal companions that they will spend a lot of money, and the vet’s bottom line improves. They count on the human-animal bond for everything they do. BUT they don’t want to have the very thing they depend on codified into law. Seems they are just a tad bit hypocritical, eh? Anyway, I agree that how we use language is very important, because it changes perception. I avoid using the term “owner,” and I sigh and change “it” back to “he” or “she” whenever MS Word “autocorrects” me! Every little step is progress!
The Science Fiction writer Robert Heinlein may have pioneered this concept in his novel “Stranger in a Strange Land” with the phrase: “There was a cat on the place – not a pet but a co-owner.”
Jackson, while I am your biggest advocate, I can’t help but respond to your comment about a guardian’s “retention of what the bill was,” mostly because I am one of those people.
My sweet 4-year-old feline had been sick for some time. I took her to vet after vet trying to get a diagnosis. By the time I found a doctor who would recognize my concerns, she needed multiple lab work-ups, x-rays, surgery, medications, office visits, special food, etc. I got a second job to foot some of the bill. When she wasn’t getting better, my only options were to either end her precious life or perform another shot-in-the-dark surgery that would have cost me more than I had.
Eight months ago, I said good-bye to my darling girl because we had run out of both options and money. And I think the reason, at least for me, that I hold on to these financial numbers is because often, the money is what haunts me. If I had just gone another 5-thousand in debt, would that have saved her? How much would I have had to spend to keep her with me? Is there even a number?
It’s not very often for me that a $10-covered-by-insurance doctor’s visit turns into a life-or-death scenario, so you’re right, I don’t really track my own medical expenses. So maybe the reason we hold on to the financial numbers associated with our companions is because when our care isn’t enough, it can feel like our only real tool is our wallets, to pay for someone to try and take care of them when we can’t.
And the reality is that there aren’t many options when it comes down to financial decisions regarding pets, and believe me, i’ve researched all of them. I have since started a medical emergency fund for my girls, and I’m hoping I never have to use it. But in the meantime, I still cry each time I make my monthly credit card payment with her expenses on it.
Hi Jackson, I just had to add my two cents into these very important topics which I am so glad up brought up. I thought I was the only one who felt so strongly about the he/she “it” and the “getting rid off” factors! It seeemed like a no win situation and its just the way it is. Im sure there will always be those who will still refer to their cats, dogs or whatever as “it” and to just “get rid of it”, but with you, the “cat daddy” bringing these topics to the attention of cat lovers all over the world, just may put a small dent in the problem. Thank you Jackson! And the reason I can relate to what you are saying is because I too, get calls much to often, from people who know what I do, and if they need to get rid of their animal, they know a guaranteed home for their animal is in their future, and they also know that I won’t just take their dog or cat to the shelter. As a matter of fact a majority of the animals I’ve placed have all gone to homes where these guys live high on the hog so to speak and get driven around in cars both you or I couldn’t ever even dream of affording! But its a great feeling because all animals deserve to be treated like royalty. After all, they were on this earth long before man and they have just as much right to be here as we do or even more! I wish that mor people would stop and think about it that way, before they adopt, get rid of or abuse their pets!
Hey Jackson,
I am also quite interested in the legal status of pets, as compared to objects and people. I think, even though legally pets are considered property, many court rulings (at least here in Europe, but see also the case you linked) actually already acknowledge that pets are more than just furry cars. Essentially, they are often treated as (at least) objects with significant sentimental value, i.e., the fact is acknowledged that the owner (or guardian
) of a cat is not interested in have just about ANY cat, but exactly the one that he already has (and that, if somebody should happen to kill that cat, it is not possible to simply replace it).
Additionally, cats are (just like any other animal) directly protected by animal protection laws (see here in german for Germany: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tierschutzgesetz_(Deutschland)), which essentially means that the neighbor from the linked case would not only face civil charges from the cat owner, but certainly also criminal prosecution by the veterinary general’s office, which probably hurts much more than the 36.000$. Effectively, according to animal protection laws in Germany, nobody (not even the owner) is allowed to put down animals without reason. Veterinaries and hunters can put down animals, but only for a restricted number of reasons.
Finally, we have seen some legal cases in the german-speaking area in the last years, where the actual well-being of the animal itself (as opposed to just its sentimental value to the owner) has been taken into account. For instance, I remember one ruling where two persons split up, and went to court over who gets to keep the two stray cats they adopted. Since none of them was the clear legal owner of the cats, but only one of them could provide them with an adequate new home, the court ruled in favor of the person that could better support the cats in the future. This may sound trivial, but still – for property in the usual sense (e.g., cars) these things are never taken into account (if a court rules who gets to keep a car, nobody asks who will have a garage), so the court evidently recognized the specific status of pets over property in the usual sense.
/philipp
A fascinating and thought-provoking post – thank you. My take on the name given to the-human-a-cat-lives-with is that it needs to reflect the independent existence and right to life of every cat: pedigree, alley cat or feral. A cat should not have to depend upon his/her (!) relationship with a human to have the right to life, respect and safety. The “owner” nomenclature does not fulfil this requirement.
As for the disgraceful, shameful concept of “putting down” it should be banned outright as a term, because of the philosophy behind it. “Put to sleep” is barely an improvement: there still remains the concept of the human having the right of life and death over a cat. The only phrase I have ever come across that should be used is “help to die”. Those are the only circumstances under which this should be done: when it is our the only loving action possible, to spare the otherwise unavoidable suffering of another creature.
This is in response to Jean Hofve, DVM on Nov. 3rd.
I have had two cats in the last 6 years that became very ill. In fact so ill that I had to get 2nd and third opinions. The reason I sought other opinions was the vet’s would lose interest in following through. I would go to the inth degree to find an answer or diagnosis for my babies. What I noticed is that each time you have another Vet. examine they want to do the same tests that you just had done prior. These tests do not come cheap and the worst thing about these tests is the stress levels that are put on an already stressed and sick animal which as you know can make them even sicker. I had to have my little girl Buttercup euthanized after 18 months of hell for me and especially for her. I spent over 6,000 on trying to get a diagnosis for her non-stop bladder infections only to hear it was chronic cystitis and there was nothing they could do for her. But they had no problem prescribing 2500.00 dollars worth of meds that would not and did not do anything to help her and trying to administer meds to a already stressed sick cat made her even sicker. I myself did not give up. I researched the entire summer and you want to hear something sad…..the issue with her bladder was she was not getting enough moisture in her diet. Not once did any vet tell me to take her off dry cat food and monitor her intake of fluids, NOT ONE VET!!! I also found in my research that cats are not natural water drinkers; they get most of their moisture from the blood of the animals they eat. But a domestic cat does not hunt enough to get the moisture intake that they need especially indoor cats. So what I did is took her off dry, fed her only high quality wet food, supplemented her water intake with watered down tuna juice three times a day. The Hills JD canned cat food I read on line is high in moisture and omega threes so I went to my vet’s office to purchase a case for her. I happened to see my vet in the waiting area, I told him of my findings and about the JD food and the water intake, his response to me “Yes we have found that monitoring water intake and feeding only wet food helps with the chronic bladder cystitis”. I looked at him in disbelief. My response was “You have to be F__king kidding me”. We have gone through hell trying to find something anything that would help her for the last 18 months and you and three other vets never told me this. This is all he could find in his vocabulary to say.” Deborah you did not go through the correct protocol….Huh? What does that mean? I think sometimes especially in my situation it was not that her care cost me 6,000.00 it was that getting no care and watching her and I suffer through her pain cost me 6,000.00. And after all this I had to have her euthanized because of another illness. Yes you are correct Dr. Jean some doctors see green and that is all.
I love the way your brain thinks, Jackson. My cat companions are not it’s. I refer to them by name, gender or some other form of affectionism.
Regarding the issue on how much money is spent at the vet, I tend to agree with Sarah’s comment. Often, we refer to the amount of money spent because so many of us did not have enough money to do everything the vet stated our cat needed. I realize there will be those people who might say, “don’t take on more than you can handle financially.” I would respond, “seven of the ten cats that are living with me would be dead, or starving and on the streets had they not found me.” One of those cats, I sometimes refer to as my 300 dollar kitty, because when he found me he had a huge, infected bite on his cheek. I knew it would not heal without antibiotics and a trip to the vet. Later, he received an eye wound from a fight. In both instances I took him to the vet. At that time, Reggie was a cat that had been abandoned by stupid people that lived two houses away from me. Several of the cats that live with me came from that house; others simply showed up. Money for the optimum health and welfare of the cats that live me are very much a concern. Still, I know beyond any doubt that each of my cat companions are much better off living with me than they were when they appeared at my house homeless, hungry and often untamed.
On the term, ‘put down’, I too, dislike that phrase,and don’t use it. I think, perhaps, the term is often colloquial. Rural residents, farm and ranch folks might be more likely to use the phrase. I’m in Oklahoma, and hear it used a lot. For me, saying ‘put down’ doesn’t feel right.
One of my rants are people who say, “oh, I love cats but can’t have one because my husband/boyfriend/girlfriend doesn’t like them.” I don’t say anything, but I wonder why someone who loves cats would choose to be in a long term relationship with someone who doesn’t? I cannot imagine life without cats. Cats are a non-negotiable issue for relationships. Not even in the least bit.
I agree with you Yvette. How can someone be in a relationship with someone who can’t tolerate their cat? With me it’s a case of “love me, love my cat”.
I don’t really refer to myself as an owner but I do think that in my cat’s eyes I am the primary human and any other people he meets are divided into secondary, tertiary or new humans.