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Because of inbreeding and overbreeding, some varieties of dogs are becoming increasingly vicious, resulting in a rising toll of dogbite victims; more than a million Americans are bitten annually. The irony is that no people, with the possible exception of the British, cares more about animals. New York's state legislature passed the first effective law prohibiting the cruel treatment of animals in 1866—43 years before passage of legislation prohibiting cruel treatment of children. But even in those days, a great deal of animal lovers' money and effort went into quixotic causes like fighting feathered hats, circuses and the use of experimental animals by Pasteur and Jenner. Today antivivisectionists are a powerful, massively financed, if misguided force in Washington. Other well-meaning groups crusade for roomier bird cages, Medicaid and tax deductions for pets, even a ban on boiling lobsters alive.
Any realistic effort to improve the lot of domestic animals should logically begin with population control. Many pet owners are opposed to surgical sterilization of cats and dogs on the sentimental ground that they should not be denied the joy of having families —which is like telling a hungry peasant that he needs to have 16 children for his peace of mind. Female cats and dogs derive little pleasure from their squalling litters, which in most cases have to be sold or given away a few weeks after birth, and may even then be abandoned.
Fees and Fines. While private vets charge around $50 to sterilize a cat or dog, Los Angeles has introduced a model system of clinics that spay females for $17.50 and neuter males for $11.50, including all required shots. By thus limiting the number of abandoned pets, the city saves money. Increasingly, reputable dealers like Manhattan's Fabulous Felines will not sell a pet unless the buyer signs a binding contract to have it sterilized.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists proposes as a next step higher licensing fees and fines for violations of leash laws, to "encourage more responsible pet ownership"; the added revenue would go to sterilization clinics. The authors also advocate a tax on pet food—1% would yield $25 million a year—to be used, for example, to finance shelters for abandoned or unwanted pets and underwrite educational programs. Pet lovers have also urged the creation of compulsory high school courses and adult seminars in animal behavior.
For Samantha, Buddy and Carol, less indulgence and more knowledge of animal behavior can only be beneficial. Possibly, though, in a world full of people racked by anxiety, anger and avarice, it is the pets who need seminars to understand humans.
* Who taught whom? The word cynic derives from the Greek kunikos, meaning doglike or currish.