Food
for Thought
Partial
to Pets?
Farah
Ghuznavi
A
recent study claims that pets have personalities. Well, duh!
Any self-respecting pet owner could have told you that without
resorting to such scientific methods. Most of us are partial
to our pooches or mad about our moggies, and can sometimes
be inordinately fond of our furry, shaggy, finned or feathered
companions. And with good reason! After all, they give us
the unconditional love and unquestioning obedience - that
is, unless you are unfortunate enough to be a cat lover! -
that we may find lacking in our other relationships, i.e.,
those of the human persuasion…As an added bonus, pets
are often quite entertaining (even cats).
Coming
back to the issue of personalities, it seems that the intuitive
idea that our pets have distinctive and "special"
personalities is backed up by the proof provided in the study.
However, the study takes this scientific discovery even further,
outlining a series of tests that can be performed on the individual
pet (dogs--clearly because of their superior qualities as
pets!--being the preferred type to carry out these tests on).
Thus, tests used included testing the animal's reaction to
watching its owner play with, or even leave the room with
another animal. And based on a series of such multiple tests,
some pet shops and animal homes are said to be considering
how to actively "match" pets with certain personality
types to "compatible" owners. Clearly, nothing is
simple any more…
As
a long term pet owner, I am well aware of the temptation to
treat your pet like a person. And despite my attempts to hide
it, no doubt my strong preference for dogs has somehow seeped
through...Although I have owned both cats and dogs in past
years, the well-known selfishness of cats--and the fact that
I am also allergic to them--has not helped their case, as
far as I'm concerned. Nonetheless, I usually only make anti-cat
remarks to provoke my inordinate number of cat-loving friends,
so these should not be taken too seriously!
What
is a more serious matter, I am afraid, is the number of pet-owners
I have met, who don't believe in having any boundaries where
their animals are concerned, e.g., sharing food with a pet.
By that, I don't mean taking a bite out of your sandwich,
and giving a morsel to your pet. I refer to the kind of person
who takes a lick of his/her ice cream, and then lets their
dog/cat take a lick! I know this is supposed to be a sign
of love, but frankly I find it a bit repulsive. In the same
category I place people who seem incapable of understanding
that however much they may love their pet, there may be others
who don't feel quite the same.
For
example, even though I adore my dogs, I am forced to acknowledge
that there are people who are genuinely frightened of them.
Furthermore, experience has shown that this fear can rarely
be dispelled by arguments or logic, e.g., that my dogs will
not bite someone who has been welcomed into the house. I wouldn't
dream of subjecting someone who is truly scared (like one
person who actually screamed when a dog opened its mouth very
wide in order to yawn), to the company of my dogs (who are
then much to their aggravation! - ruthlessly removed to a
different part of the house).
I
regret to say that not all pet owners are so reasonable! I
recently had the misfortune to be invited to dinner to the
house of somebody who owned four, five or possibly six cats
(after a while, it became difficult to tell them apart not
least because I was too busy sneezing my head off, and had
tears streaming down my face). The criminal cat-owner however,
refused to even shift her pets to another room, presumably
for fear of hurting their feelings! As this was a business
dinner, rather than a social engagement, I had to grit my
teeth and sit through dinner, but I have rarely been so profoundly
grateful to leave someone's house…
I
recently came across another example of the kind of person
who tends to treat their pet like a human being. Dogs in the
UK tend to be very well-trained (or naturally well-behaved,
I can't decide which). So while you may see any number of
dogs running free in the park, there are rarely any altercations
over this. An exception was a case where a woman was in tears,
and chastising her dog (who had apparently just taken a bite
out of another dog), asking pathetically, "But why did
you do that? Why did you do it?" I couldn't help wondering
whether she actually expected him to answer…
Another
issue puzzling animal behaviourists is the issue of an old
bridge in the south of England. In the last six months, five
dogs have apparently committed suicide by throwing themselves
off the bridge. Since dogs are not known for committing suicide,
there have been a number of hypotheses offered for this phenomenon,
including that the canopy of trees by the bridge is mistaken
for solid ground by the dogs, who then fall through the trees.
This
is a bizarre exception, but the possibility of mishaps is
far greater with more unusual pets. Some family friends, who
are extremely tolerant parents, allowed their son to have
a grass snake (Jake) as a pet. While it was not poisonous,
his sister was less than impressed. Least of all, the night
she came home late, to find a note from her brother left on
the kitchen table, stating "Dear Fiona, don't be scared
if you meet Jake on the stairs, as he seems to have escaped
from his cage…"
Rather
more alarming was the case of a British man who was heavily
fined for keeping a 4.5 foot cayman (alligator-like reptile)
in the bath of his 15th floor apartment. One can't help thinking
that his neighbours may have been less than thrilled to find
out about this! Bizarrely, he was only found out because he
grew tired of sharing his bathroom with the creature, advertised
it for sale on the Internet, and attempted to transport it
to the prospective buyer in the boot of his car. The judge
concluded that the level of ignorance he displayed regarding
the dangers involved in keeping such a "pet" was
truly criminal!
Finally,
there are those who are fully aware and thrive on the idea
of having a dangerous or frightening pet. Sometime ago, I
looked out of the window in London (after hearing someone
screaming), and saw several young women walking rapidly away
from something. There was another young woman standing across
the street, who appeared to be the source of the disturbance.
As I watched, to my horror, a large man ran across the street
to stop in front of her - he was bare-bodied, and had a large
LIVE green snake wrapped around his neck. He was using the
snake's head to terrorise her. The police arrived some minutes
later, but I couldn't help hoping that he would one day find
himself on the receiving end of the uproar he had created…
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