Because I spend a fair amount of time working with aggressive animals and their owners, I naturally pay a lot of attention to how the general public and the media respond to these events. Within western society, we tend to take a villain-victim approach to what we perceive as an attack by one animal on another member of the same species. Aside from the fact that this completely disregards the fact that animals normally may communicate with members of their own species with teeth and claws and that what we perceive as an attack may not be an attack at all, this emotion- rather than knowledge-based response can make things worse rather than better for the “victim.”
For example, suppose Hulk’s temperament plus his relationship with his owner leads him to attack Baby, whose temperament and relationship with his owner leads him to act like, well, a baby. If Hulk’s owner is mortified by the behavior and sufficiently attached to her pet, she’ll seek professional help to ensure that the problem won’t happen again. If she doesn’t have that attachment or if public outcry or legal considerations preclude her keeping the dog, she may give him up or have him euthanized. Regardless which approach she takes, she will quickly realize how her dog’s temperament and his relationship with her may negatively affect his physical and behavioral well-being, and may even cost him his life. Because of this, the painful episode leads to greater understanding about animal behavior and the effects of the human-animal bond on it and animal health. Although this knowledge may arrive too late to save Hulk, it will benefit his owner’s relationship with any future animals.
Now suppose that while Hulk fights for his life, solicitous humans surround Baby. His owner, veterinarian, and others who perceive him as a victim fawn over him when he shows any sign they could attribute to any fear or discomfort. By doing this, they could create six problems for him:
- Rather than building Baby’s confidence, they inadvertently perpetuate his existing fears.
- They also reinforce any additional anxiety Baby may have experienced associated with the attack.
- They teach Baby that displaying fearful behavior gains positive human attention. Like the little boy who cried wolf, it then becomes difficult to know when the dog is really afraid.
- The exaggerated fear responses that gain positive results from humans could confuse other dogs and set Baby up for more breakdowns in inter-canine communication.
- Baby’s fears may result in stress-related medical and behavioral problems.
- Because timid dogs may become aggressive as they get older, Baby may find himself labeled a villain rather than a victim as time goes on.
Within the feline arena, we see situations in which one cat in the household may attack another as a means to alleviate stress. Rather than seeking to understand why this display occurs—and there are quite natural reasons for it—owners may immediately jump into the villain-victim mind set. This, in turn, may lead them to formulate elaborate schemes to keep the cats apart and to lavish extra attention on the “victim,” such as serving special meals to the cat in the owner’s bedroom. The longer the owner keeps this up, the less likely the so pampered pet will feel like trudging back downstairs to eat it usual fare in the bowl or reestablishing normal relations with the other cat.
The net result of the emotion-based villain-victim game is that, while owners of actively aggressive animals will seek help to relieve the fear that often underlies this behavior, those who own timid animals may do nothing to relieve their pets’ fears at all. Worse, they may behave in ways that actually increase the animal’s fear and even undermines its health.
Why would someone do this? Well, some people prefer timid animals because these animals make them feel more needed, or because these pets appear less threatening than more confident ones. Timid pets make other owners feel superior because of their willingness to accommodate the animal’s fears: “It takes a lot more time and energy than most people cans spare to sooth Sissy when she gets frightened, but I love her so much I do it.” Still others see the timid pet’s fear as a source of amusement: “Devon rolls over and goes belly up and pees all over himself the instant he sees another dog. It’s the funniest thing I ever saw!”
Regardless what emotional charge we place on the timid animal, is perpetuating animal fear to fulfill our own needs a caring thing to do? If the answer is no, then it’s our responsibility to make the changes necessary to eliminate those fears.
Because I spend a fair amount of time working with aggressive animals and their owners, I naturally pay a lot of attention to how the general public and the media respond to these events. Within western society, we tend to take a villain-victim approach to what we perceive as an attack by one animal on another member of the same species. Aside from the fact that this completely disregards the fact that animals normally may communicate with members of their own species with teeth and claws and that what we perceive as an attack may not be an attack at all, this emotion- rather than knowledge-based response can make things worse rather than better for the “victim.”
For example, suppose Hulk’s temperament plus his relationship with his owner leads him to attack Baby, whose temperament and relationship with his owner leads him to act like, well, a baby. If Hulk’s owner is mortified by the behavior and sufficiently attached to her pet, she’ll seek professional help to ensure that the problem won’t happen again. If she doesn’t have that attachment or if public outcry or legal considerations preclude her keeping the dog, she may give him up or have him euthanized. Regardless which approach she takes, she will quickly realize how her dog’s temperament and his relationship with her may negatively affect his physical and behavioral well-being, and may even cost him his life. Because of this, the painful episode leads to greater understanding about animal behavior and the effects of the human-animal bond on it and animal health. Although this knowledge may arrive too late to save Hulk, it will benefit his owner’s relationship with any future animals.
Now suppose that while Hulk fights for his life, solicitous humans surround Baby. His owner, veterinarian, and others who perceive him as a victim fawn over him when he shows any sign they could attribute to any fear or discomfort. By doing this, they could create six problems for him:
Within the feline arena, we see situations in which one cat in the household may attack another as a means to alleviate stress. Rather than seeking to understand why this display occurs—and there are quite natural reasons for it—owners may immediately jump into the villain-victim mind set. This, in turn, may lead them to formulate elaborate schemes to keep the cats apart and to lavish extra attention on the “victim,” such as serving special meals to the cat in the owner’s bedroom. The longer the owner keeps this up, the less likely the so pampered pet will feel like trudging back downstairs to eat it usual fare in the bowl or reestablishing normal relations with the other cat.
The net result of the emotion-based villain-victim game is that, while owners of actively aggressive animals will seek help to relieve the fear that often underlies this behavior, those who own timid animals may do nothing to relieve their pets’ fears at all. Worse, they may behave in ways that actually increase the animal’s fear and even undermines its health.
Why would someone do this? Well, some people prefer timid animals because these animals make them feel more needed, or because these pets appear less threatening than more confident ones. Timid pets make other owners feel superior because of their willingness to accommodate the animal’s fears: “It takes a lot more time and energy than most people cans spare to sooth Sissy when she gets frightened, but I love her so much I do it.” Still others see the timid pet’s fear as a source of amusement: “Devon rolls over and goes belly up and pees all over himself the instant he sees another dog. It’s the funniest thing I ever saw!”
Regardless what emotional charge we place on the timid animal, is perpetuating animal fear to fulfill our own needs a caring thing to do? If the answer is no, then it’s our responsibility to make the changes necessary to eliminate those fears.