Using the Term "Person" instead of "Owner" with Animals

Using the Term "Person" instead of "Owner" with Animals

I recently received an email from a group in Texas calling themselves the Responsible Pet Owners Alliance or RPOA. I have been on their email list for several months because I like to know what everybody thinks, even groups that I don’t agree with their opinions or direction. I certainly don’t agree with this groups opinions, and I have made that known to the president.

In this latest email they published a sheet that describes what they feel is the difference between Animal Welfare and Animal Rights. In their list of what they describe in the list of their beliefs is this:

“We have the right to "own" animals to protect them; they are our property.”

This got me to thinking about the ongoing discussion about “Owner, Guardian, Parent or Person: Which is the Best Word to Use to Describe Your Relationship with Your Pet?” 

I am 46 years old, and I have had animals all my life. We always had dogs, birds, reptiles and fish, and that continued in my adulthood. I currently have in my house three dogs, one cat, two rabbits and two budgies. Up until about five years ago, I used the term “owner” to describe who I was to my animals. That was the word always used, and no other term was ever used or offered. That was the standard term. However, I did always feel a bit uneasy and uncomfortable about that word, like it just did not fit, or accurately describe the relationship I have with my animals. I NEVER saw them as objects or unthinking or unfeeling beings. In fact, as many times in my life, especially as a teenager and young adult, and even today, they were and are my best friends and constant companions, and I know many, many people who feel the exact same way. Can one person ever “own” their best friend? 

What changed about five years ago was I learned about intuitive communication with animals. I started taking seminars through Marta Williams (www.martawilliams.com) and learning how to communicate with animals through the use of intuitive communication, or non-verbal communication. Even though I always felt I had open communication with my animals, the opening just exploded wide open when I learned about intuitive communication. The animal is allowed and encouraged to speak freely and express their feelings and viewpoints, and this technique can be used to help solve a variety of behavioral problems, and the animal is involved in the process of creating a new direction. Intuitive communication can also be used to speak to animals who have passed over and to help find lost animals. 

Marta said that she did not use the term “owner,” but that she used the term “person” as the human being designated to care for that pet. So, when you say you have a dog (you don’t own a dog), then your pet has a person. You become the person designated by law to care for the pet.

I have heard of another term used quite frequently to describe a relationship between a human and their animal, and that is “parent.” When I worked for a doggy day care place in Oakland, that was the term used to describe the human caregiver of each animal. The words “mom” and “dad” were freely used to describe the male or female caregiver who would come and pick up that pet each day. I know a lot of people use that terms freely and easily. However, for me, that has never stuck or felt comfortable. I use those terms exclusively to describe my own biological parents, so maybe those words are sacred for me and mean only one male and one female who have lived on this planet. 

After learning about intuitive communication, I can no longer return to using the word “owner” since I don’t believe a human being can own another being, whether that is dog, cat, bird, turtle, including livestock. One of the most fascinating conversations I ever had was with a chicken. The use of the word “owner” has a deep connection, in my mind, to slavery, and how one human being was allowed to own another human being.