Rob McKenzie
Rounding Some Corners

View more columns

People — put pets in their proper place

There is no feeling quite like coming come home to that effusive greeting from your dog — the wagging tail, the galloping gait, the lapping tongue.

It doesn't matter that you've been gone all day.

It doesn't matter that you're broke.

It doesn't matter that your hair is a mess.

Your animal is always there for you, and that unconditional loyalty makes you feel good.

Animals give us so much: They make us laugh. They help us feel safe. They make us feel important.

And so much more.

While people around you have their mood swings, your animal will always have that same predictable personality.

That's a good boy!

But regardless of how much love we feel for our animals, we shouldn't treat them like people.

"Daddy" should be reserved for fathers, not for a guy taking Goldie for a walk.

Shrimp should be served at a cocktail party, not as a flavor in Fluffy's biscuit.

T-shirts should be worn by people, not by slobbering canines.

When we treat animals like people, we cross a sacred line.

We intimate there is no difference between an articulate, creative, self-sufficient person and a primitive creature that is only capable of giving us conditioned reflexes.

Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov demonstrated this limitation of animals with his experiments on dogs, getting them to salivate every time he rang a bell, because he would follow that sound with their meal.

In essence, animals can only react to what they've been conditioned to expect.

People are a cut above animals, because we are capable of determining our own destinies and because of our considered responses to what others are saying and doing.

We may not always like the autonomy that people exhibit, but it's a trait that sets us apart from animals.

It's wonderful that animals fill a void for those who don't have a romantic partner or children.

It's fantastic that animals help some people feel safe at night.

It's lovely that animals make some people feel needed.

But while people are animals, because we are living organisms with mobility and a central nervous system, animals aren't people because they can't think for themselves.


Then sit, roll over and bark. You're in for a treat.

Rob McKenzie is a professor of communication studies at East Stroudsburg University.

Reader Reaction
Print this ArticlePrint this Article Email this ArticleEmail this Article
Bookmark and Share