I was excited to see the changes made over the years. Martin-Boyd has always been an establishment that honors its elderly residents, but now the architecture was updated with beautiful crown molding and individual door frames that give residents a greater sense of dignity and autonomy.
In the center of the elegant sitting room, lively birds flitted about a large glass enclosure, lending their bright colors to the atmosphere. The fattest cat I have ever seen perched on a richly upholstered chair. A sleek tabby weaved his way across the room, turning to rub against the leg of someone’s walker and then pausing for a head scratch.
The familiarity and obvious pleasure the residents feel toward these animals supports what elder care professionals have known for some time: Pets are therapeutic. In fact, when an aging person can no longer live at home, one of the greatest losses may be the loss of their animals. Petting a cat or dog has been shown to lower blood pressure, ease depression, and put a smile on one’s face.
Keeping pets should be source of enjoyment, enhancing the life of both the humans and the animals involved. In our society, we see many examples of harm caused by greed, arrogance, and even mental illness.
From time to time, the news carries a story of a house overrun by pets. Typically we hear about an older woman housing hundreds of cats in a home filled with feces and even a few rotting corpses. Authorities swoop down on the unfortunate woman, charging her with animal cruelty and removing the numerous animals to treat them as victims. But who is really the victim here? Seems to me the cats are in charge, treating their poor “owner” as a slave while they procreate madly. As the old joke goes, dogs have owners but cats have staff.
Then there are the pit bull owners, who may be crazier than the cat ladies. Every time a child is mauled by a savage dog, pit bull apologists rush in to blame the child. Last Friday an eight-year-old Lookout Mountain girl was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after a pit bull attack. (To read the news article, click here.) The apologists noted that the attack happened in the pit bull’s own yard while he was “defending his territory” from the girl’s small terrier. Although the dog owner had no proof of rabies inoculation, the apologists began their mantra of “Where were this girl’s parents?”
Eight-year-old children are often allowed to walk down the streets of their own neighborhood — particularly when a pet is missing. Chaining a pit bull in the yard is an unsafe practice, just as it would be unsafe to chain a bear or a lion in the yard and then expect children to just stay away. It was a relief to hear that the dog owner called 911 and then shot the animal in the head, unlike other cases where pit bulls have been spirited away from the scene of the crime. In one case, the dog owners hid the offending animal and presented authorities with a similar-looking dog instead.
Pet owners have the responsibility to protect little neighbors from vicious dogs. Chains and ropes do not provide adequate protection, since a child may wander into the animal’s circle. A tall chain-link fence provides better protection. It’s all well and good to say “Children should stay on their own property,” but the reality is that children do not exercise adult judgment. This is why homeowners must put a fence around their swimming pool, rather than just saying “That kid that drowned shouldn’t have been on my property in the first place.”
Many people around the United States love dangerous breeds like pit bulls, and feel perfectly comfortable around them. Other people like to keep poisonous snakes for pets. Those of us who don’t share your affinity simply ask that you keep such pets to yourself. Do not bring them to the park where our little ones are playing. Do not parade them through the local street fair, forcing us to sweep our children away from a mouthful of fangs right at the level of their little faces. Do not leave dogs unattended on a rope in your yard, where an unsuspecting child may become their next chew toy. Do not assume that just because you consider Killer a loveable, harmless pup, he will ignore the instincts present in every cell of his body.
People and animals can live in harmony. All it takes is a bit of wisdom on the part of human beings.
Jeannie Babb Taylor may be contacted at jeannie@babb.com, or you can leave a public comment on her blog at JeannieBabbTaylor.com.
There are stipulations for owning a dog from the dangereous breed list in GA. Though, I'm not too certain that it is enforced.
Sure, "where were the parents?" I would never allow my children to wander in our neighborhood. They do not go outside without adult supervision. But I also have a pool in my back yard with a fence around it. It's an older wood privacy fence that I have to repair and replace sections often. It would be much easier and cheaper for me just to tear the thing down. It is also very doubtful that any of my neighbors would call authorities, my insurance company, etc. and report me for not having the fence around the pool. However, I have enough common sense to know that if someone's small child wanders into my pool, they will drown. It's not about what my insurance company tells me that I have to do, it's about doing what I can to keep a child from loosing it's life in my backyard.
I have no desire to own a dog that will attack, maim, and kill children - and even adults in some cases. But obviously, some people either do have that desire, or they just don't know any better. Either way, if my backyard is regulated to the use of fencing because I own a pool, why isn't the same done for the vicious animal?
"Where were her parents????" Sure. Where indeed. But is it the CHILD's fault that the parents made a poor decision in allowing her to wander into an area with a vicious animal? Would it be the drowning child's fault in my back yard, if I were to remove my fence?
Not every parent is a "model" parent. It is up to the people who have dangers at their residences to keep those dangers from being accessable by others, ESPECIALLY children. I do not trust the parents in my neighborhood to keep their children away from my pool anymore than I trust them to come out and remove them from the front of my car bumper before I apply the brakes. People who own dangerous animals should feel the same way. The last time I checked, that Hyena at Warner Park Zoo was behind a very tall fence. -However, you will hear people and workers there say that "he wouldn't hurt a fly."
BTW, why haven't I heard anyone even speak of the dangers of keeping ANY dog on a chain or rope? Many times, that will make any old average mixed breed turn aggressive. Why ON EARTH would a person do that to a breed that is KNOWN for it's agressiveness? Dangerous breed kept on a rope/chain no fence = serious trouble and potential tragedy. Trying to prevent injury and death should be our main priority, whether we own a pool, an agressive animal, or are just driving our car. Hopefully, we would apply the brakes, or at least attempt to swirve away from the child in the road before we began to wonder "Where are her parents?"
A fence for either dog would have prevented this attack. It has nothing to do with what breed of dog it is, although that is what draws the media attention. The same poor decision by two dog owners to not have fences and one bad decision by a parent to not watch a child caused this tragedy. Not a breed, nor a dog, and not a child. Unfortunately, those are the two who had to suffer the consequences of poor decisions.
The terrier and little girl could just as well have been hit by a car if she was following it around, unleashed, outside of a fenced yard.
And where were the parents? I don't believe this is a mantra, but a statement of parental responsibility. Yes, this was a terrible thing that happened, but I would not allow my child to roam free in my neighborhood if I knew a pit bull was in an unfenced yard. If this is the kind of neighborhood in which one would feel comfortable allowing their 8 year old to roam free, one would assume the parents were aware of this pit bull.
I'm very sorry for this girl and her family. In this situation, a fence on both ends could have prevented the attack.
If you want to want to condemn pit bulls as killers, that is your choice, but I'm sure many owners, the ASPCA, local adoption centers, the humane society, breeders and dog lovers would disagree.