I always get the email or phone call asking, “Why won’t anyone put a stop to Hartz? Why isn’t there a lawsuit?” Invariably we all think, “If this kind of poisoning were happening to humans, the FDA and media would be all over this and the problem would cease to exist.”
The sad truth is that our pets are “property.” They’re objects with no rights, feelings or emotions. I was reminded of this this afternoon when I received an email from my child’s school. The school is adding a service dog to it’s staff and we’ve all been told that:
The service dog is not a pet when the dog is at school; the courts have ruled that an ASDA dog is a “highly trained and well socialized indispensable durable medical device for the child.”
The key word here is “device”. The courts consider animals devices. Things. Objects.
What are your thoughts on this? Am I wrong or off base?
8 Comments Received
October 13th, 2011 @5:12 am
No you are NOT wrong, animals and pets are apart of our family. even service animals have a family who love them. A police man sees his police dog as a partner not a “device”. a fireman sees his dog as a partner, not a “device”. this goes for seeing eye dogs, guard dogs etc. they ALL have homes and owners who take care of them (for the most part) and love them, they are family, not a “device” to be looked over, it is a living, breathing mammal. they all deserve to be loved and cared for by us AND by the courts. they have rights too.
Now if you look at independent cases of animal abuse, there are usually charges or even jail time, so the courts DO see it as the animal has rights, maybe just not on a large scale? as for the school, they could have worded it better, letting the children know it is a highly trained specialized animal instead of device.
October 14th, 2011 @12:48 pm
Unfortunately Josh this is true Legally speaking we own our animals so they are concidered property. I think this is do to the misguided belief that animals do not have souls. I have sort of mixed view I firmly believe that all warm blooded mammals have souls. I don’t know how anyone in their right mind who has actually take the time to form a relationship with an animal could think they don’t. They should be sanctioned life forms, but we as a race haven’t evolved that far yet.
Unfortunately I think in animal abuse cases the courts are just beginning to respond to public out rage over the abuse and their rulings are more for the owner of the abused animal if there is one more than anything else.
Look at Michael Vicks, ya he spent a little time in jail and has to do couumnity service work, but he’s back on a team making more money than he was prior to the exposure of the dog fighting. Some how I just don’t see that as justice.
Some of the more less publized cases of animal abuse are much worse I recall 3 teenaged males breaking into a cat rescue in the midwest and doing horrible things to the cats. Most died during whatever guesome things happened to them. The ones who survived were so badly injured they all had to be put down. Then did no jail time and were fined some small amount. It’s just not right I wish I knew how to fix it. I’m sure I’d revert back to my younger ways should anyone hurt any of my animal intentionally and no doubt I’d be in jail for doing it
The problem with getting Hartz of the market well that’s all about money and the lack of resolve of the owners of animals effected to actually organize, protest and work to get the products banned. It’s very sad but they seem to think by posting what happened here is enough. They can’t be bothered or enlisted to help fight Hartz in the long run. I’ve been doing this since 2001. Despite my attempts to organize victims into groups who would actually do anything to fight Hartz and the EPA, very few people do more than file a report. I see very little progress in anything being done to stop these products from hurting more animals and it still breaks my heart reading these posts.
October 18th, 2011 @3:28 pm
I told you last month about 2 of my 6 cats becoming ill from Hartz flea spray. My 13 year old female black Pomeranian, Puki was also treated at the same time with the spray formulated for dogs. She was fine until 2 weeks ago when she began rolling from side to side on her back and picking at herself. I immediately checked her for fleas and she had none. This behavior has increased to the point my dog has rubbed nearly all the fur off her back, abdomen,and haunches. She started scratching at her face as well as the top of her head. Reported this to Hartz.
Again with the lame excuse of “it’s a minor reaction.” Really???
A bald Pomeranian is a minor reaction???? My dog is up most of the night howling at my washing machine and digging imaginary holes in my kitchen floor. I have to medicate her at night just so we can sleep. And yet, no class action lawsuits. What gives???
October 24th, 2011 @12:49 pm
IMO, its a good thing animals are considered property legally unless you want to be forced to be a vegan. A pet dog isn’t anymore special than a pig.
“They should be sanctioned life forms, but we as a race haven’t evolved that far yet.”
Do you want to live in a cave or house made of twigs? Do you know that in order to build the house you lived in, countless animals had to be forceably removed from their homes to make room for yours – which probably caused them to die? Or do only animals you like deserve to be treated as “sancitioned life forms,” but not the ones that get in the way of you living a cushy life, such as deer, rats, mice, voles, squirrels, etc?
“Look at Michael Vicks, ya he spent a little time in jail and has to do couumnity service work, but he’s back on a team making more money than he was prior to the exposure of the dog fighting. Some how I just don’t see that as justice.”
I’m not a vegan, but if someone buy eggs or poultry at the store they are supporting more animal suffering than Michael Vick ever did by fighting dogs. Should they be thrown in jail for life for paying people to cut off chicken’s beaks and shove them into cages so small they cannot move for the rest of their lives?
IMO, declassifying animals as property isn’t the way to go to combat companies like Hartz. I’d rather go the way of educating people and boycotting companies that sell products that kill the animals they are marketed for.
If animals do ever become declassified as property, then I suppose you won’t have to worry about companies like Hartz – because you won’t even be able to own an animal to use these products on.
October 27th, 2011 @8:08 am
To “Josh” from Oct. 2011. Yes you are WRONG. A dog (any animal) is not an ‘object’ or ‘thing’. I don’t care what your clearly not very intelligent school claims about service dogs.
October 27th, 2011 @8:14 am
To “Gina” from today. Thank you for your thorough insight.
November 8th, 2011 @4:01 am
I will say that the words spoken here by this particular school is.. very disgusting.
Animals are not, nor ever will be devices, things, or toys for people to abuse. They come to this earth as special beings. The bonds that we share with them are sacred.
They have souls. Anything that can feel love has a soul, and anything that can love you back has a soul. They are precious creatures, gifts, that us humans so wrongfully abuse.
I have two cats of my own, one is an older cat named Knight and a younger cat named Honey, affectionately nicknamed ‘Honey Bunni’ or ‘Bunni’.
Were anyone to treat the two animals that live with me as objects, they would not be welcome in my home. Just because something is different than you does not mean that it is less than you.
Animals, I feel, can be just as intelligent as we are… hell, they outsmart us all the time and train us to feed them, pet them, etc.
How can we call something that trains us oblivious humans to do things for it…an unintelligent ‘object’ or ‘device’? There are studies that show that cats have a calming effect, and can help children with disabilities and the like.. but that doesn’t mean that they are a device to be used and thrown away.
July 4th, 2012 @11:59 pm
animals are property and animal abuse charges are stupid.Why are we not prosecuting animals for abuse to each other when a cat is full he just tortures that poor mouse to death .That murder and he should be put to death .Ever put younger birds in with older siblings not a pretty sight. Come on people only animals domesticated by man tolerate us .People are animals and we eat other animals just like every other animal.I like my pets and they are well taken care of because i own them .You own your pets and i do not care what you do with them or what the cat does with his mouse he caught it now its his property.
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