Water, Food & Dog Toys
My old friend Michael Schaffer has a delightful new book out called, One Nation Under Dog: Adventures in the New World of Prozac-Popping Puppies, Dog-Park Politics, and Organic Pet Food. It’s about the strange and central new place that animals have taken in our lives, homes and markets. He makes the point that modern-day pets even influence life-or-death decisions about where we live and when we decide to flee.
We know that before Hurricane Katrina, many people decided to stay because they couldn’t take their dogs to shelters (a situation that has actually improved in some places). Well, the same calculus occurs in the everyday disasters you don’t read about. As Schaffer points out, research has shown that one reason women do not leave abusive households is that they can’t take their animals with them. In 2008, the American Humane Association started a new initiative to open women’s shelters to pets. At one pet-friendly shelter in Naples, Florida, 100 pets cycle through every year. In Maine, judges can now include pets in domestic-protection restraining orders, Schaffer writes.
Through most of human history, it would have been inconceivable that pets would play such a powerful role in people’s survival decisions. Animals were beloved, but they were servants above all else. Now the federal government advises people building emergency kits to include their pets’ favorite toys, treats and bedding. “Familiar items can help reduce stress for your pet.”
Listen to Schaffer talk about how we got here on NPR’s Fresh Air.
organic dog treats said on October 19, 2009 at 7:46 am
“If we were “One Nation Under Dog” we might be a country where more decisions were based on compassion and peace rather than greed and violence.”organic dog treats
pet memorial markers said on November 21, 2010 at 11:50 pm
Whenever I go to the pet store and think about buying a pet, I always feel bad about the other ones. When I bought my dog from a pet store, I felt bad because the other ones are begging for attention and I pick only one of them. Anyone feel bad when they bought there pet?
dog memorial stone said on November 22, 2010 at 1:20 am
My german sherperd dog is already 10 months old. She is still very shy with other dogs. Even a very small size dog can chase her. If other dogs approach her aggresively, she submited immediately. I would like her to play with other dogs happily with confidence. Most dogs she met in off-leash park were very nice(not as aggressive as she thought). Please give me some tips on how to train her to be confident like a gsd should be.
Tenrec said on December 31, 2010 at 2:48 pm
With genetic engineering, we will soon create animals with the ability to speak and act like human beings. See the science fiction stories of “Cordwainer Smith.”
From the Wikipedia article about him:
the Underpeople, animals modified into human form and intelligence to fulfill servile roles, and treated as property. Several stories feature clandestine efforts to liberate the Underpeople and grant them civil rights. They are seen everywhere throughout regions controlled by the Instrumentality. Names of Underpeople are based on their animal species. Thus C’Mell (“The Ballad of Lost C’Mell”) is cat-derived; and D’Joan (“The Dead Lady of Clown Town”), a Joan of Arc figure, is descended from dogs.
web design companies said on January 16, 2011 at 2:32 am
Great article, I completely agree. I love my pet, and I make huge decisions based on my dog.
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Health Store said on February 10, 2011 at 12:12 pm
i find the book very interesting. the story is detailed and precised.
weine said on March 04, 2011 at 3:58 am
Some people make their own dog food, feed their dogs meals made from ingredients purchased in grocery or health-food stores or give their dogs a raw food diet.
profit and loss account said on May 29, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Pet owners nowadays are really having some time for their pets.That’s the good thing for dogs that this dogs will not be stray.
christine said on September 02, 2011 at 8:29 pm
Through most of human history, Animals were beloved, but they were servants above all else.
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Lucy kelly said on May 12, 2012 at 4:04 am
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