The changing status of animals: interview with author David Grimm

US based author David Grimm with his cats Jezebel and Jasper.

Those of us who live and work with animals often talk about the changing status of animals. Pets, so the sweeping generalisation goes, have moved from the backyard to the bedroom…and the implications of this are profound.

David Grimm (not to be confused with the Brothers Grimm) is an award winning journalist and the Online News Editor of Science. His book, Citizen Canine: Our Evolving Relationship with Cats and Dogs has just been published.

It’s about the way dogs and cats have evolved from wild animals to members of the family – not just in the eyes of pet owners, but also from the perspective of the law. SAT caught up with David for a chat about the issues.

You're an award winning science writer and journalist. How did you get there? 

I actually had wanted to be a veterinarian from early in my life. I worked at a vet clinic as an assistant for about 6 years part-time in high school and college. And then I decided I really didn’t want to be…I realised that being a vet is more about dealing with clients than animals and was a bit turned off by that aspect of the job.

So I went to college where I majored in cell biology and decided I wanted to be a scientist. I went to Yale for grad school and did a PhD in genetics. That took about 6 years, but halfway through I realised I didn’t want to be a scientist anymore, and I always liked writing. I did some internships, got hired from an internship and was hired by Science. I’ve been there for ten years.

You've always had an interest in stories about animal welfare. Where did this come from and what do you consider your favourite story?

When I started writing for Science I was writing about all things from mouse genetics to nuclear testing. I really wanted to write about cats and dogs but needed to think about new research. One of the editors had come across the Michelson Foundation, founded by one of the richest men in the country – a multi-billionaire. He wanted to know if we could develop a birth-control vaccine for dogs and cats, not so much for the US but for third-world countries where there are a lot of homeless animals and really no infrastructure to do spay/neuter. Can science develop an injectable vaccine that would sterilise animal’s for life? I ended up writing a feature story for Science about the efforts to develop this birth control – called “A cure for euthanasia?”

I was really proud of the story and received an award from the National Press Club.

Your book discusses our changing relationship with animals. Over your lifetime, what have been the major changes?

I think there were a few factors that set up the relationship. One is the urbanisation of society. In the nineteenth century people used to live in very large families – you lived with your grandfather and your cousins. With industrialisation we’ve seen changes like an increase in nuclear families, higher divorce rates, people living alone and without children.

There also used to be a lot of farm animals in the city – people had cows and pigs in the backyards, there were horses on the street.

But even before the last few decades there was a big emotional void developing, and with less people in households cats and dogs started to become more like companions.

More recently we’ve seen an incredible rise in technology and mobile devices, so a lot of our interactions with people are electronic. We make friends on Facebook instead of in real life. It has been especially dramatic in the last couple of decades – technology has taken over our lives and our human relationships have disintegrated. But cats and dogs have been there to fill the void in a powerful way. They really have become the child that doesn’t live with you anymore or the friend who isn’t tuning you out for an iPhone. They are on your lap, they want to play and cuddle with you, we don’t get that sort of attention from people now.

In Australia, as in many parts of the US, animals are essentially property when it comes to law. What are some of the implications?

The disadvantage is that you can do whatever you want with your property. If I wanted to throw my toaster out of the window I could do that, if I wanted to set my couch on fire I can because it’s my property. But I argue in the book that while cats and dogs are technically property, they really have some rights that property doesn’t have. We have felony anti-cruelty laws, we can impose fines, up to 10 years in prison, if you abuse an animal.

We also have a remarkable development in our legal system as now we’re having a lot of custody cases involving cats and dogs and judges will ask what is in the best interests of the animal? There have been a few cases where dogs were given lawyers, but you’d never have a lawyer for the toaster. Even with all those considerations some people argue as long as cats and dogs still property our interests will always trump theirs in the court of law.

A lot of vets and vet nurses think their jobs would be easier, or less stressful, if animals moved beyond the status of property. Is that really a safe assumption?

Vets are very concerned about the changing status of pets. On the one hand, vets really benefit from the relationship people have with their pets. For example, our male cat was adopted from a shelter. He is now eight years old and we have probably spent close to $10,000 on him: he had kidney failure at an early age, had his tail accidentally slammed in a door and has been in some fights. We paid around $50 for him but we are willing to spend hundreds or even thousands on his health. Vets really benefit from that.

The problem for vets comes when they do something wrong, and somebody sues for malpractice. They might sue the vet for $5000 or $10000, and the vet may argue that cat is only worth $50? So the owner says, why did you let me spend $5,000 on it? The American Veterinary Medical Association has really fought this, saying that we should not allow these kind of malpractice suits as they will destroy the profession. It is a very tricky situation. It’s an advantage for vets to support the close relationship between pets and owners in the clinic but very much a disadvantage in the courtroom.

You've also suggested that biomedical researchers might be concerned about such changes. Why?

The biomedical research and the agricultural industries…the thing they are concerned about is what they call the slippery slope. If cats and dogs get rights today, what is there to stop that from being cows and lab rats tomorrow? If we have to see pets as people, we have to see cows and rats as people, and what will that do to meat production and animal testing? There is some worry that once we grant rights to one group of animals, there is really nothing to stop us granting rights to other groups of animals.

We’ve already heard a bit about your male cat. Can you tell us about the non-humans in your life?

Our male cat is Jasper and the female is Jezebel. They are littermates, we got them from a shelter when they were around 8 weeks old. My wife and I both grew up with cats but we moved around so much when we were first going out that we didn’t have a chance to get them.

One day I woke up in Baltimore and said “We have to get cats today.” So we drove to a shelter, those were the first cats we saw. So it was a bit impulsive. They’re great cats but they’re also bad in the ways cats can be bad sometimes (our male cat has learned how to turn on our alarm clock in the middle of the night). Even though we got them from a shelter, they very quickly became members of the family. We would treat them like children, ask about them when we went on vacation, we have pictures of them all over the house.

We actually trained them to walk on leashes which got on a lot of attention from the neighbours.

How would you describe your relationship with them?

They are definitely members of the family. We had twin girls about one and a half years ago and I was very interested in how this might change the relationship. A lot of people that I interviewed for the book who worked in animal rescue don’t have children, and some critics argue that they wouldn’t be so close to animals if they had children. I was happy to discover – though not too surprised – that even when we had human children it didn’t fundamentally change our relationship with our cats. Yes, they get a lot less attention but we still love them just as much – just everyone has to compete for attention.

In ten, twenty or fifty years, how do you think we will be relating to animals?

Especially in the last 20 years cats and dogs have been on really dramatic trajectory and where does it end? I am not sure we could get any closer to them in the home [Ed: I have to agree here. There are two sitting practically on top of me as I upload this post]. They are already considered family, I think it’s hard to imagine them getting any closer to us in the social aspect.

The question is what is going to change legally. I think if you ask owners if pets should have rights, you get mixed responses. But if you ask should cats and dogs be property, most people to say no. Is there a way to find a middle ground, give animals a legal status without giving so many rights that would make people uncomfortable? Just the fact that we are having big legal battles about this right now shows just how far these animals have come.

Any advice for vets, nurses or vet students?

When I was working on the book I saw a big generational divide. The older vets I talked to tended to be firmly against the idea of awarding animals personhood or rights. But the younger vets, especially female vets, tended to be more open to it. I am curious whether some of this resistance will fade as the younger generation takes over.

How do you navigate those waters? I think one of the big concerns veterinary clients in the US are having right now is how do vets ethically offer therapies?

Twenty years ago we didn’t have chemotherapy, MRI or ultrasound so when an animal got really sick euthanasia was the only option, it was the best the vet could do. Now euthanasia is one of many options. It may be that you can euthanase or spend several thousand dollars on this experimental drug, or X or Y or Z therapy. If you have a client that doesn’t have much money, do you even mention those therapies knowing they will spend the money and go bankrupt?

I think it’s a very confusing, dramatic time to be a veterinarian right now because there are a lot of different forces at play.

Thanks David for this really interesting discussion. Certainly there are some cans of worms opened there and a whole lot more discussion to be had. For example, can animals ever be considered to be moral agents? And should vets use, as ethicist Professor Bernard Rollin calls it, Aesculapian authority or respect client autonomy in decision making? This is fascinating territory to explore.

[As for that matter there are clear veterinary codes of practice which - with some variation depending on where you work - oblige veterinarians to provide clients with info on all reasonable options and recommend the best thing for the animal. Easy on paper, a lot more challenging in real life, especially with the patient can't offer explicit consent or express preferences in any definitive sense].

Fish welfare

What does good fish welfare look like?

When you think "pet" you probably think cat or dog, maybe rabbit or bird...but the majority of Australia's estimated 38 million pets are fish. According to these stats, there are around 20 million pet fish in Australia. However, when it comes to being well looked after, the majority of fish are not. Is it because they tend to be more silent than their mammalian counterparts? Is it harder for us to empathise with them? Is it because we tend to "set and forget" - put them in a pretty tank and ignore them until they start floating upside down?

What does fish welfare mean?

If you happen to be up late this Saturday night (I am assuming most readers operate on Sydney EST but if you're from Perth or the Northern Hemisphere you're in luck!) there is a fantastic, free webinar on aquatic animal welfare. (If you plan to be asleep at the time, register anyway and you can catch it later).

It is designed to kick off what will be a six month welfare dialogue project on fish welfare, lead by the World Aquatic Veterinary Medical Association (WAVMA) (of which our very own Dr Richmond Loh is currently President) and Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU). All the info is below.

Free Webinar: “Issues Facing Fish & Aquatic Animal Welfare” – in Celebration of World Veterinary Day & the Beginnings of a Global Dialogue

When: Saturday, April 26, 2013 – 13:00 GMT/UTC (click http://tinyurl.com/ktgvpnc for your local time)

Register now ! Click on https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2387014812762073858
If you are unable to participate, be sure to register to receive information on accessing a recording of this webinar, information on future webinars, how to participate in the Fish Welfare Dialogue, and the September 2014 International Fish Welfare Conference

Speaker: Chris Walster, BVMS, MVPH, CertAqV, MRCVS
The Island Veterinary Associates, Stafford, UK

Moderator: Dusan Palic, DVM, PhD, CertAqV
Ludwig-Maximilians University, Tierärztliche Fakultät, Munich Germany

About the Webinar & the Dialogue:

The Webinar
This webinar is in celebration of World Veterinary Day and the beginning of a 6-month international conversation (the “Fish Welfare Dialogue”) on numerous issues concerning the human-animal relationship with aquatic animals. It will introduce some of the important issues (from science to philosophy) that affect how non-governmental organizations, governments, animal owners and society at large, might address the welfare of aquatic animals (particularly finfish and invertebrates).

Post-webinar Dialogue & Conference
As part of the Fish Welfare Dialogue, all webinar participants will have the opportunity to discuss these and other issues through web-based discussion forums. With the hopes of developing realistic, practical and optimal approaches for the welfare of all aquatic animals, and the benefit of mankind, these discussions will serve as the basis for refining how aquatic animal welfare should be addressed at an International Conference on Fish Welfare in Munich, Germany in September 2014.

Organizers & Supporters
This webinar has been organized and coordinated by Ludwig-Maximillians University & the World Aquatic Veterinary Medical Association. Other organisations are invited to participate in and distribute information on the Fish Welfare Dialogue, future Fish Welfare webinars and the 2014 International Fish Welfare Conference. For more information contact admin@fishwelfare.org.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

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Update on greyhound welfare

Racing greyhound coats.

SAT reported previously that the NSW Legislative Council's Select Committee on Greyhound Racing in NSW would report on a parliamentary inquiry into this industry. Whether you support greyhound racing or not, this is an interesting issue because it raises important ethical questions - if we are to use animals in entertainment, what conditions are required such that this is just and fair use? Do we have obligations to animals used to such ends and what are these? There is no escaping the fact that greyhounds in this and other countries have been appallingly mistreated, and there is hope that the current review will lead to changes that have a positive impact on the welfare of these animals.

Dr Rosemary Elliot, from Sentient: The Veterinary Institute for Animal Ethics, reviews the Committee's first report below.

Greyhound racing in NSW inquiry (advocacy)

The NSW Legislative Council’s Select Committee on Greyhound Racing in NSW released its first report on 28 March 2014. The outcome of this parliamentary inquiry has been disheartening to all of us advocating for the welfare of greyhounds. 

Its bias towards industry was evident in a forward by the Committee’s Chair (and Shooters and Fishers Party MP) Hon Robert Borsak, who opened the report by claiming: “the greyhound racing industry in this State has a proud history.” 

Not surprisingly, the majority of the 18 recommendations arising from the inquiry focus on ways to improve the structure and oversight of Greyhound Racing NSW. A second report is to follow, with recommendations for improving the economic viability and long term sustainability of the industry. 

Only seven recommendations directly address animal welfare; these include increasing the number of drug swabs collected, two-yearly kennel inspections of all licenced premises, an independent inquiry to investigate the frequency and number of litters permitted for each breeding female, inclusion of socialisation in the animal welfare strategy, the development of best practice industry standards for race track design and maintenance and the provision of veterinary services, inclusion of kennels in Section 21 of the POCTA 1979 to ensure allegations of live baiting can be properly investigated, and “that Greyhound Racing NSW and/or the NSW Government commit greater resources for greyhound rehoming”. 

Whilst these recommendations could result in incremental improvements, in most instances there are no specifics provided and they cannot be enforced. Further advocacy by animal welfare organisations will be needed to encourage both Government and industry to act on these recommendations. Considering the multiple firsthand accounts of extreme animal welfare abuses presented to the inquiry, the Committee’s response appears tokenistic. 

It has missed the opportunity to propose strong reforms that would hold Greyhound Racing NSW accountable for the enormous ‘wastage’ of dogs through overbreeding and callous ‘disposal’, the low number of dogs rehomed, failure to track the whereabouts of greyhounds throughout their lives, high injury and death rates and the live export of greyhounds to new markets in Asia. 

Most significantly, it has failed to challenge the ongoing self-regulation inherent to the greyhound racing industry that allows these abuses to continue.

You can download the full report from this link. Thank you Dr Elliot for sharing this report with us. 

Can we ever see the world from a cat's perspective?

This is Jingle, who was staking out a backyard BBQ when this photo was taken. But were we looking at the same things?

Here's an interesting thought: when we try to understand how non-humans experience the world, we often focus on shared qualities. Its a tad anthropomorphic but we do it with humans and that works nicely for us. However, in a recent paper reseacher Kara White argues that we can only get closer to the feline gaze if we appreciate our differences.

White is clear: "We cannot, without a doubt, know what it is like to be a cat" (although as Hero currently sleeps on my desk while I type, I have a fair idea that it can be pretty fantastic). But her point is we don't have to prove they have minds that work just like ours.

White is not a big fan of the term "minds" anyway, contaminated as it is with Cartesian dualism which seems to privilege the mind over the body (with the body being just a convenient vessel for our pure minds). No, she says, feline subjectivities are mediated by their bodies - and in case you hadn't noticed, those bodies are a lot different to ours.

For example, I would personally struggle to do this.

The sensory apparatus of cats are different (to that of humans) - in some ways ours are better, in some ways theirs are better. (If you've ever been home alone with a cat at night, and they suddenly see something over your shoulder that you can't, you will know what I mean. Alternatively, consider the cat who goes to ground the moment you lay hands on the cat carrier in preparation for a trip to the vet. They're not even in the same room, but when you touch that cage they sense it somehow and off they go).

White sees these differences, and the different sensory world of cats, not as a barrier to communication but a rich field for exploration.

"While our sharedness can be important to emphasize, we should not over-rely on our desire for similarity with other species due to what we can miss. Rather, by acknowledging and seeking to understand alien as well as familiar sensory experiences, we can get even closer to the feline gaze."

In short, cats have a radically different way of experiencing the world to us - and just because they don't talk about it or use language the way we do, doesn't mean that they don't possess an "embodied consciousness".

[Speaking of animal senses, it reminds me of this post where veterinary ophthalmologist Cameron Whittaker spoke about what pets actually see. Read here].

Jingle used his senses to locate the BBQ snacks...and his gymnastic abilities to reach them.

Reference:

White, K (2013) And say the cat responded? Getting closer to the feline gaze. Society and Animals 21:93-104.

My favourite egg moments

Eggs from a mosquito (image courtesy Fabrizio Montarsi).

As a small animal practitioner you know its Easter when you get calls about dogs raiding Easter egg stashes. I met two unfortunate pugs yesterday who happened upon a bag containing Cadbury chocolate-mousse filled Easter Eggs. They couldn't believe their luck and although the bag was placed out of reach, they were able to reach the handles and work together to pull it down and open its forbidden contents - which were naturally gorged rapidly.

They presented to me shortly after, and I had the joy of inducing vomiting and confirming that yes indeed, the eggs had certainly been ingested, but looked a lot less attractive on expulsion. I felt very sorry for the pugs as they came into the clinic looking particularly chuffed and were clearly on the hunt for more treats. Those warnings about chocolate toxicity that vet clinics release around Easter aren't empty words!

But on the topic of eggs I thought about some of the happier (or in some cases more interesting) egg moments I've experienced, so this post is more of a photo album of egg-related incidents. 

This chicken presented straining to lay an egg (egg-bound). After treating her I took her home and watched her - and in the morning she produced this in my bathroom. 

Warning - this pic below looks distressing but the bird is anaesthetised (note mask over head and beak area) and is in this position because she is unconscious. She made a full recovery.

My colleague Steve removed this egg from an egg-bound Indian ringneck. If you don't, or you don't do it right, you can cause egg peritonitis which can be fatal.

The eggs below were removed from a bearded dragon with follicular stasis, a condition commonly seen in these reptiles.

Bearded dragon eggs that have been surgically removed.

The above image does remind me of gall-stones. When I was growing up - before the advent of the internet and pay-TV [it wasn't that long ago, kids!] - the best thing at school was show-and-tell. I am not sure if it was peculiar to my school, but one of the highlights was when kids used to bring in their parents' gallstones for show and tell - in the same yellow specimen jars. The stones were about the size of those eggs, and sometimes there were a few. I was so jealous that my parents didn't have gallstones to show and tell. Now I know where they come from and how much pain they can cause, I'm happy my folks didn't have them (I'm also somewhat relieved that mum didn't have follicular stasis, although an egg-laying mum would have blown everyone else's show and tell out of the room).

But back to follicular stasis, this happens when fertilised follicles become stuck, usually when active ovaries develop mature follicles that fail to ovulate (preovulatory follicular stasis or, for those in the business, PFS - very different to PMS). Treatment involves surgical removal of the eggs and speying. You can also get post-ovulatory follicular stasis (also PFS - some potential for confusion here), where eggs just stick together because they are not properly calcified - this creates a massive conglomeration of eggs that is impossible to pass. Treatment is the same. (For more info check out Robert Johnson and Brendan Carmel's fantastic book here).

Snakes can also become egg-bound and may require surgical intervention.

Ultrasound of a gravid carpet python (the outline of the eggs is visible, with two eggs here - one on the left, the other smaller egg is to the right).

For those readers who aren't keen on seeing images of surgery or reptiles, apologies - there are some pics of python surgery coming up.

Dr Robert Johnson removed an egg from an egg-bound carpet python.

This python had a lot of eggs that she couldn't move.

This is a selection of the eggs. Note their irregularity and very soft shells. The patient made a full recovery but her eggs were nonviable.

Her wound post-op looks very neat. Note that one doesn't incise through the middle of the ventral scales - always try to incise between.

So there you have it. Eggs in all of their raw beauty. The chocolate ones just don't really compare, do they?

REFERENCE

Carmel B & Johnson R (2014) A Guide To Health & Disease in Reptiles & Amphibians. Burleigh, QLD: Reptile Publications.