Dog Rights
by The SF/SPCA Department of Law & Advocacy and Behavior Training
Throughout human history, art and literature have depicted people in all walks of life and social strata with dogs, illustrating this animal's widespread acceptance in everyday life. Some religions even incorporated dogs into their worship. Indeed, dogs have long been admired for the purity of their character traits, with military annals documenting the wartime bravery and courage of dogs in the K-9 Corps.
Closer to home, our own culture is populated with examples of the well-established place dogs have found in our hearts and homes. People of all ages, but particularly the elderly and the young, enjoy their companionship. For single people, dogs offer a welcome relief from loneliness. For children, an animal in the home contributes warmth and unconditional love, and teaches responsibility and consideration for the needs of another creature. People who suffer from disease or injury experience a therapeutic, even spiritual, benefit from the presence of dogs.
Dogs do so much good for the community: they give us a sense of optimism, safeguard us from depression and loneliness, and break down the barriers that isolate us from one another. Their presence improves our health, protects us from danger and teaches us about caring and responsibility. And they ask for so little in return.
Unfortunately, as a society, we have yet to recognize and appreciate the emotional psychological needs of dogs. As a result, while our laws demand that a dog kept as a companion receive the basic requirements of sustenance and shelter, there is no way to guarantee that an animal receives love and attention. For the dog, the absence of attention and affection is tragic.
The San Francisco SPCA believes that sharing one's life with a dog is a privilege, governed by general principles, which we call Dog Rights. But just as these rights form a contract between dogs and their human families, we believe that they should also constrain the animal control policies of city governments, the practices of humane organizations and the principles of all human interactions with a dog. These rights are:
The Right to be Cherished and Protected
For much of history, animals were considered mere commodities who pulled our wagons, provided the products for our wagons, provided the products for our farms, herded our sheep and kept our barns free of mice. During the last century, however, socio-economic and moral changes in society at large produced changes in the status of animals as well. Many animals - dogs in particular - are now over whelmingly companions instead of servants. In addition, government laws and services have evolved from promoting animals as property, to protecting them as cherished pets.
But those changes are not uniform. Compassion towards dogs is not always fostered and encouraged. Many people do not know all there is to know about responsible dog care, the importance of spaying and neutering or the challenges of providing for our canine companions. Countless people became dog lovers only after a stray won their hearts. But rather than encourage and develop responsible pet care in people, society at large subjects dogs and dog guardians to condemnation or penalties.
The San Francisco SPCA is not asking that everyone love dogs or even be fascinated by them. We also understand that dogs can inconvenience some humans. But they are living animals observing of humane treatment. And whether it is dog licensing, pet limits, short shelter holding periods, no-pet housing policies, limited access to local parks or any number of restrictive laws and policies, dog lovers and dogs often suffer. While sharing one's life with a dog may not be a fundamental right, it is unquestionably an integral aspect of our daily life which cannot be dismissed lightly and should not suffer unwarranted limits.
The Right to Social Integration
All people would agree that intentional physical abuse of a dog is a terrible thing. Yet there is another cruel practice to which dogs are subjected far more frequently than corporal abuse. it is a form of mistreatment which is also devastating and painful to a dog, yet often fails to be regarded as abuse at all. it is neglect.
Because dogs, like human beings, are pack animals, they, like us, need to socialize in order to remain psychologically healthy. Since domestication, however, companion dogs no longer have packs of dogs with which to live. As a result, they consider humans to be their families, and we serve as their surrogate "pack". Keeping as dog isolated in a backyard results in a miserable, lonely dog who exhibits aberrant and often annoying traits, such as persistent barking and whining.
A dog is a social animal and needs to be with his pack. Dogs should live and sleep inside the house like the rest of the family. They should be integrated into family activities and a period should be set aside each day to spend quality time with them, such as playing ball or taking them for a walk.
The realities of modern life may require that dogs spend some part of the day in the backyard. Many of these dogs receive plenty of love and attention and are happy, healthy companions. Yet to banish a dog to the backyard, while the rest of his "family" live, enjoy each other's company and sleep inside, goes against a dog's most basic instincts. And this is no way to treat man's best friend.
The Right to a Fair Share of Public Resources
Because dogs are "pack" animals, dogs should not be kept isolated from one another. In addition, if continually frustrated by their lack of mobility, many dogs will react with intense enthusiasm when released, such as dashing around wildly.
Dogs, therefore, require daily exercise and contact with other dogs in order to remain healthy and well socialized. As one prominent dog advocacy group has noted, "a well-socialized dog learns the skills required for getting along with the people and the other dogs [he/she] meets each day."
Further, "dogs socialize with each other through subtle displays of posture and behavior that can only occur when they are not impeded by a leash. A leash limits a dog's natural movement and can even cause some dogs to become territorial, protecting the area to which the leash confines them."
Off-leash areas are therefore essential for the health, and well-being of dogs, and the SF/SPCA believe the availability of such parks is imperative. And because dog lovers, like other tax-paying residents, already pay for these parks (and, through license fees, also pay for municipal animal control services), they and their canine companions have a right to numerous, widely accessible off-leash parks.