One of the things I love about teaching animal behavior is seeing how fundamental concepts that apply to wild animals play out in the human-companion animal realm. For example, as part of my animal behavior course, students must prepare a written report and do an oral presentation on an endangered species. As I read the reports and listened to those presentations, the same reason for a species’ dire condition was cited time and time again: human encroachment and habitat destruction. With each repetition, I couldn’t help but see similarities between this and the way we relate to companion animals. That led to the obvious question: Would these lead to endangerment in those species, too?
To answer that, let’s analyze our pets’ habitats to see if any evidence of human habitat encroachment exists.
Obviously, we don’t destroy companion animal habitat the way we destroy a rain forest or coral reef. To some extent we can’t do this simply because, by definition, the habitat of domestic animals is whatever we provide for them. We don’t, for example, refer to domestic canine or feline habitat being limited to temperate or tropical climates, or of populations of golden retrievers or exotic shorthairs confined to estuaries or boreal forests. On the other hand, we do move to new homes or make changes in existing ones with often little or no consideration regarding how this might affects our pets’ sense of place. Other times pets may claim habitats no bigger than a crate, box, or old blanket, the scents and texture of which communicate “home” in ways that would challenge the talents of even the most perceptive interior designer. Yet when we decide to redecorate our own space, many of us wouldn’t hesitate to toss that micro-habitat into the trash because “It’s such a smelly eyesore.” When our pets show less that total enthusiasm for any spiffy new replacement, we blame the animal for not appreciating the gift!
Most of us also readily acknowledge that feeling comfortable in any physical space isn’t enough. We need to feel mentally and emotionally secure in order to feel at home, too. This leads to the next question: Might we also sometimes unwittingly or deliberately encroach on our pets’ mental and emotional habitats? Consider the following list of common human-companion animal behaviors:
- We get a cat because we love the look of a particular breed and think participating in cat shows would be fun.
- We get a dog because we want to do agility or some other dog sport because it appeals to us.
- We take the dog to a dog park because we enjoy the company of the other people we meet there.
- We enroll the dog in doggy daycare because he chews the furniture or pees when left alone.
- We keep the cat indoors 24/7 because we don’t want her to get hit by a car or otherwise assaulted by some horror outdoors.
- We get another pet with the idea that his or her company will eliminate the existing pet’s problem behavior.
- We select a training method that appeals to us with little or no consideration of how or if it provides the optimum learning experience for our pet.
Most people will find nothing in this list that strikes them as anything other than normal, in spite of the fact that all of these can represent encroachment of canine or feline mental and emotional habitat under certain circumstances. Getting an animal for any reason other than because we truly want to form a quality relationship with that particular animal could violate that animal’s mental and emotional territory. The same goes for picking a training method because it appeals to us, rather than considering whether it meets our pets’ needs. True, if the animal possesses the wherewithal to meet our expectations, then a good and even fantastic relationship will follow. But if not, we’ll see the animal as inferior and even a failure. In that case, two violations of the animal’s mental and emotional territory occur. The first consists of all the negative effects caused by the anxiety and erosion in confidence that arises when any animal is placed in a position that exceeds his or her ability to succeed. The second is all the negative mental and emotional effects that occur when human support is withdrawn when it’s needed the most. And while all of us consider doing everything in our power to provide our pets with a physically safe habitat, we may endanger them if fail to provide for their mental and emotional needs in that confined space.
As so often happens when I explore such correlations between human relationships with wild and domestic and especially companion animals, I couldn’t help but following this one to its logical conclusion: If this encroachment continues and becomes the norm, could companion dogs and cats become endangered species? Granted that sounds utterly ludicrous, if for no other reason than because there are so many of them.
And yet… surely at one time humans said that about most if not all of the wild species that are now struggling for survival or gone never to return again.
Once again, the choice is ours.
If you have any comments regarding subject matter, favorite links, or anything you’d like to see discussed on or added to this site, please let me know at mm@mmilani.com.
To answer that, let’s analyze our pets’ habitats to see if any evidence of human habitat encroachment exists.
Obviously, we don’t destroy companion animal habitat the way we destroy a rain forest or coral reef. To some extent we can’t do this simply because, by definition, the habitat of domestic animals is whatever we provide for them. We don’t, for example, refer to domestic canine or feline habitat being limited to temperate or tropical climates, or of populations of golden retrievers or exotic shorthairs confined to estuaries or boreal forests. On the other hand, we do move to new homes or make changes in existing ones with often little or no consideration regarding how this might affects our pets’ sense of place. Other times pets may claim habitats no bigger than a crate, box, or old blanket, the scents and texture of which communicate “home” in ways that would challenge the talents of even the most perceptive interior designer. Yet when we decide to redecorate our own space, many of us wouldn’t hesitate to toss that micro-habitat into the trash because “It’s such a smelly eyesore.” When our pets show less that total enthusiasm for any spiffy new replacement, we blame the animal for not appreciating the gift!
Most of us also readily acknowledge that feeling comfortable in any physical space isn’t enough. We need to feel mentally and emotionally secure in order to feel at home, too. This leads to the next question: Might we also sometimes unwittingly or deliberately encroach on our pets’ mental and emotional habitats? Consider the following list of common human-companion animal behaviors:
Most people will find nothing in this list that strikes them as anything other than normal, in spite of the fact that all of these can represent encroachment of canine or feline mental and emotional habitat under certain circumstances. Getting an animal for any reason other than because we truly want to form a quality relationship with that particular animal could violate that animal’s mental and emotional territory. The same goes for picking a training method because it appeals to us, rather than considering whether it meets our pets’ needs. True, if the animal possesses the wherewithal to meet our expectations, then a good and even fantastic relationship will follow. But if not, we’ll see the animal as inferior and even a failure. In that case, two violations of the animal’s mental and emotional territory occur. The first consists of all the negative effects caused by the anxiety and erosion in confidence that arises when any animal is placed in a position that exceeds his or her ability to succeed. The second is all the negative mental and emotional effects that occur when human support is withdrawn when it’s needed the most. And while all of us consider doing everything in our power to provide our pets with a physically safe habitat, we may endanger them if fail to provide for their mental and emotional needs in that confined space.
As so often happens when I explore such correlations between human relationships with wild and domestic and especially companion animals, I couldn’t help but following this one to its logical conclusion: If this encroachment continues and becomes the norm, could companion dogs and cats become endangered species? Granted that sounds utterly ludicrous, if for no other reason than because there are so many of them.
And yet… surely at one time humans said that about most if not all of the wild species that are now struggling for survival or gone never to return again.
Once again, the choice is ours.
If you have any comments regarding subject matter, favorite links, or anything you’d like to see discussed on or added to this site, please let me know at mm@mmilani.com.