On warm summer evenings in the past, we used to see families out for a stroll or playing in the front yard. These days, though, we see fewer kids — and lots more people walking their dogs. If there's a confab at the street corner, it's likely to be not mothers with strollers, but dog owners admiring each others' pooches.
Today, we seem to be treating dogs more like people. A recent Star Tribune article exemplified this trend. The article — entitled "Dog Dates of Summer" — featured photos with captions like "Magda, an 8-month-old Viszla Lab mix, takes in an art exhibit … with her parents" and "Ava, the two-year-old cocker spaniel, waits patiently for her mom to finish up brunch."
There were no quote marks to signal tongue-in-cheek use of words equating dogs with human children, like "parents" and "mom." The article recommended dog-friendly venues like a cafe that offers "homemade dog treats from the bakery," and a dog yoga class ("Doga") where owners can "connect with your pup and stretch."
The trend toward treating dogs like people confirms the increasingly central role that pets play in our lives. But does it also point to a subtle shift in the way we view our fellow human beings?
Consider a recent study by Richard Topolski of Georgia Regents University and his colleagues, which appeared in the journal Anthrozoos. Researchers asked respondents which they would save from a runaway bus: a dog (their own pet or someone else's) or a human being. The conclusions were remarkable: Forty percent of respondents, including 46 percent of women, said they would save their dog over a foreign tourist.
Nearly all respondents reported they would save a sibling or best friend instead of a strange dog. But when asked to choose between their own dog and people less familiar to them — a distant cousin or hometown stranger — an astounding number chose the dog.
Would Americans have answered this question differently in the past? Most likely, yes. Why?
The answer lies embedded in words that used to be our nation's common creed. Our founders held it self-evidently true that "all men" — unlike other animals — "are created equal" and "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights," including "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."