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By Reed Seifert Let’s start with a quick narrative to set the scene- the story of Rudy and Louie. As a child I was desperate to bring a furry companion into my life, so at the tender age of 10 I lobbied my parents relentlessly to get a dog. I used all the plays in the play book and pulled every trick from my sleeve, and eventually they caved. I was thrilled to have gotten my way, however my mother and father agreed on one condition- the dog was to be kept in a kennel in the garage. Unfazed by this stipulation we bought our first dog, a Yellow Lab bred specifically for hunting and named him Rudy. My life was complete with the new addition to the family, or so I thought. When Rudy became too large to keep in the house my parents enacted their one condition, and bought a 9’ x 6’ kennel for the garage.
Five years later my younger sister began to press our parents for her own dog. She must have taken notes on my tactics, because she too was successful. Her breed of choice was a cute little white Cavachon with big black eyes and a round face. The fur ball named Louie quickly earned the nickname “Lou-cifer” for his constant carpet-pooping, carpet-peeing, and (worst of all) sock-eating tendencies. Despite all the mayhem and destruction Louie brought to our house, he received the keys to the castle. And so I thought, “Why was Rudy locked in a 50 Square foot kennel eating kibble, while Louie lived in our 2,000 Square foot house eating home cooked dog food?” This is the question prompted my research into how socially constructed roles for dogs have led to such a radical disparity in living conditions. |
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This is a website about nonhuman animals, written by human animals taking a Society and Animals class at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Archives
April 2024
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