Semantics and Rhetoric

Semantics and Rhetoric
by Anka Andrews

Increasingly, in my various reading of dog related articles, I find myself referred to as 'pet parent' or 'pet guardian'. I don't care for that.

I'm a woman. I am not my dogs' mother, I'm not their parent. I'm not some freak of Nature, haven't given birth to dogs or cats or any other pets. While they do have parents, I am not one of them. Their fathers know nothing of their existence, having been no more than sperm donors. Their mothers would not only not recognize them if they saw them but would quite possibly offer to mate with them, or fight them for food. While all of this may be de rigeur in some strata of human society it does not fit into commonly accepted human norms. To be designated 'pet
parent' diminishes the concept of parenthood.

I am not a pet guardian. Guardianship implies oversight by someone else, a third party who sets rules of conduct and care with which I have to comply. I make my own decisions about my dealings with my dogs according to my conscience and the values I hold which govern my interactions with living things. I guard my dogs' welfare to the very high standards I've set but I am not their guardian.

I am their owner. They are my property. I can sell them at will. I can store them in crates. I can sterilize them, or not. I can show them off. I can treat them and feed them any way I chose to.

Parenthood and guardianship bestow rights to that which is being parented or guarded. The guardian of an estate, for instance, has to make sure that the contractual provisions of the estate, its rights, are being met. Parents speak for their children in defense and support of those children's rights.

Dogs don't have rights; neither do trees or rocks or crocodiles. Rights are a human concept. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness: Those are the basic human rights. Dog ownership requires of moral people that we do all we can to protect our animals' lives, offer them as much liberty as is safe for them, and do what we can to help them be happy.

By allowing ourselves to be called pet parents and pet guardians we are giving consent to abide by a standard of conduct set for us by others. Animal Rights groups and politicians are queuing up everywhere to limit our rights as property owners. They tell us that we must neuter our pets. That we may not keep them confined in kennels and crates. They limit where and how we can travel with our property. They make demands on and regulate our ownership and thusly whittle away at our rights.

Primary cultural change is often insidious. It seeps into our consciousness gently, slowly and with great subtlety until we've bought into it without ever having noticed. Like high fructose corn syrup, it pervades. We do it, here, on our e-mail list. We talk about our fur kids, mommy and daddy doing this or that with them, we proclaim that they're our children. They are not. They're our dogs. We are their owners.

It's time for a reality check.

Watch your language!

From AKC judge, Charlotte Clem McGowan (sporting, working, terrier, toy, herding, BIS+): Nov 20, 2008 6:27 PM (PST)

I would like to make some observations about language. The animal rights people want to change language to help them in their quest to give animals legal standing and we are helping them. Time to stop.

Adopting - this is a term used for humans. We don't adopt animals. Sorry, rescues don't offer dogs for adoption either. They offer them for placement. They re-home them. But they aren't adopted. If money changes hands, they sell them. A shelter here in Mass grosses over $700,000 a year selling imported shelter strays, mutts and feral street dogs. They go for $350 a pop. They don't rescue in my opinion, they keep product in the store! They have a big so-called not for profit 501(c)3 business.

If we start calling it like it is (and I do) believe me you are going to feel so much better. Now if a purebred rescue collects money from someone for a dog, they are taking money as a placement or re-homing fee or they are asking to be reimbursed for expenses related to the re-homing. If you need it to be warmer and fuzzier, it is humane re-homing. Let's drop adoption. Animal rights people love us if we help them. Let's stop helping them.

Fostering - This is a term used for children taken by the state and put in the care of people not their parents. We don't foster dogs. We provide temporary care for displaced dogs. Sorry if you find that awkward but we can all benefit by retraining ourselves.

Guardian - legal term used for the legally responsible person caring for a minor child or incapacitated person. I think we get this one. We have to fight Guardian language in animal ordinances tooth and nail because a guardian takes away ownership from the owner. If you own a dog it is yours. If you are a guardian, you are not an owner. You are a person or entity with legal care responsibility. If dogs have guardians instead of owners, we no longer have ownership rights.

Puppy Mill- There is no such thing. Puppy mill is a slur, like the"N....." word. Let's stop using it. We hate substandard kennels. We want all dogs to be kept well. Well kept dogs are well kept dogs whether they are in kennels or in homes. It isn't about how many dogs there are it is about how well they are kept.

HSU$ call all farms factory farms. When have you ever heard them talk about or care about family farms? Now they call all breeders puppy mills. They try to mumble in a remote footnote that there might be some good breeders but for them it is all about shelters and if not shelters rescues. Do you get it? They use language to slander all animal use and all dog breeders. Their mumbled lip service doesn't fly with me.

Rescue - what is a rescue? To me, IMHO, it is taking on the care and re-homing of a dog in a true need situation. This includes when the owners are incapacitated or die, have to go into a care facility like a nursing home, lose their home, etc. When some one just wants to dump a dog because they are tired of it, that's a disposal job. I am not nice to such people.

When purebred rescues go into auctions and buy dogs I call that just plain dumb. That is assisting and supporting commercial breeders. Some people may not agree but supporting this sort of thing does absolutely nothing for purebred dogs. Words that do not belong in the language at all - fur babies, fur kids, fur children. All of these terms make animals into children who (gasp) need guardians, adoption and fostering. So I hope you watch your language