I’ve long believed that dogs are people too, although it was only late last year that I read an article from the New York Times that tended to validate my belief.
An article by Gregory Berns, a professor of neuroeconomics at Emory University and the author of “How Dogs Love Us: A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain.”, described how MRI scan results showed that dogs apparently had emotions.
Berns wrote about a series of tests which observed activity in a region of the brain which both dogs and humans have called the caudate nucleus.
| SUPPORT INDEPENDENT SOCIAL COMMENTARY! Subscribe to our Substack community GRP Insider to receive by email our in-depth free weekly newsletter. Opt into a paid subscription and you'll get premium insider briefs and insights from us. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter, GRP Insider! Learn more |
Caudate activation is so consistent that under the right circumstances, it can predict our preferences for food, music and even beauty.
In dogs, we found that activity in the caudate increased in response to hand signals indicating food. The caudate also activated to the smells of familiar humans. And in preliminary tests, it activated to the return of an owner who had momentarily stepped out of view. Do these findings prove that dogs love us? Not quite. But many of the same things that activate the human caudate, which are associated with positive emotions, also activate the dog caudate. Neuroscientists call this a functional homology, and it may be an indication of canine emotions.
The ability to experience positive emotions, like love and attachment, would mean that dogs have a level of sentience comparable to that of a human child. And this ability suggests a rethinking of how we treat dogs.
Dogs are people too, like I said, and when they die, there are “parents” who undergo a period of intense grieving that can be likened to one who is grieving over the death of a child, sibling, or close friend.
I’ve had several dogs in my life and I can tell you, when a dog is sick there are endless bouts of worrying and when they die, it feels like having a hole torn from your core.
Friend and former colleague Atty. Michelle Estor tagged me in a heart breaking story about Karen Balce and what happened to her dog Tyler at Dog Spa Philippines in BF Homes, Paranaque.
The pain of seeing a pet pass on from sickness or old age is excruciating as it is, but what more if the pet is killed by heartless negligence? I can only imagine the anguish.
Section’s of Karen Balce’s story about how the negligence of one of Dog Spa Philippines’ employees killed Tyler follows:
The groomers texted my mom that Tyler was ready for pick up, and when she got there they made her wait for a couple of minutes and then out came the groomer saying “Ma’am may nangyari po kay Tyler” my mom rushed inside to find out that Tyler on a table in a leash is already dead. The cause was that after they groomed him, they put him on a leash (he was never ever on a leash, even in the house) and placed him on table and left him there; for some reason he fell/ jumped out of the table and so he was hung to death, they only found out when my mom got there 30 mins after they finished grooming him. Tyler struggled to death, which is the hardest part for us. The receptionist mentioned to my mom how tyler was barking, assuming that he was lonely since he was the only dog there, we later assumed that he was barking asking for help and no one came to the rescue.
We treated him like he was really part of the family and cared for him like he was a real human being. He was never allowed to play outside (just because he can’t get dirty, which he hates as well), his stroller was his way out of the house, and hearing Sunday Mass was always the highlight of his week. He celebrates his birthday yearly complete with a party, and he was spoiled by mom in the way that I can even get jealous. It crushes our heart over and over again how our baby died struggling. It pains us to know that we weren’t able to help him and that his death could have been prevented.
One commenter on Karen’s post on Facebook pointed out, “They should never have placed your dog on the table with or without a leash. Even if it didn’t hang him, he could have broken bones if he had tried to jump off it.”
After being upbraided by several people on their Facebook page, the Dog Spa Philippines managed an almost robotic explanation for what happened…
Dear Pet parents Thank you for giving us the chance to answer this. Yes, this sad and very unfortunate accident happened in our BF Homes branch and we are all very heart broken. Tyler has been a loyal customer for the past three years and has always been handled by the same groomer.
As pet parents ourselves, we have always ensured that all our staff would do their very best to always maintain a high quality of service and standards. Rest assured that this groomer is no longer with us and that we will ensure that nothing like this has a chance of ever happening again.
We have offered out sympathies and support to Tyler’s owners, and mourn the (sic) lose of their dear friend.
We will aim to regain the trust of pet parents and their furry babies. We thank you for your continued support and understanding.
One thing that got me is that Dog Spa Philippines claims that they are familiar with Tyler, but how come they put the dog on a leash when Karen claims that Tyler was never put on a leash? How could Tyler’s groomer for three years NOT KNOW THAT? Moreover, the dog was barking for THIRTY MINUTES and no one in the shop even CHECKED on what was happening, HOW EXACTLY DOES DOG SPA PHILIPPINES MAINTAIN ITS QUALITY OF SERVICE?
Karen warns other pet owners in her Facebook post, “Mind you, its a policy to place the dogs in cages after grooming and not on a leash. We are now exploring what we can do to give Tyler’s death justice and give what is due to the people who did this to him.”
My friend Michelle relates that even that unfeeling response had been removed from the page…
So I commented on the FB page of The Dog Spa (Philippines) about Tyler, the dog who, according to Karen Balce, was hanged to death in their custody, after one of their groomers left him on the grooming table with a leash on. I expressed outrage at what allegedly happened, and at how the establishment responded, according to their own admission.
I was about to post another comment, asking why they did not post their explanation (if it can even be called that) on their wall and merely posted it as a comment (hiding something?).
To my utter disappointment, I discovered that not only did the page administrator delete my comment and my reply to one of the comments. It also prevented me from further commenting/replying on the page. Now, all I can do is share its posts.
I don’t know if this is the first time that such a death happened in Dog Spa Philippines, although some people claim it isn’t. Nevertheless, I hope this is the LAST TIME it happens because I hope their business closes its shutters forever.
Writer.
always wanted to comfort the family though i know nothing can..my heart breaks..
already spread the news..
you’re home tyler..in the loving arms of God
If there is a dog heaven, Tyler should be in it.
A bunch if idiots killed that dog Tyler.The author is surprised that dogs have emotions? All living creatures have them, the fact that they are incapable of verbal conveyance to humans of this fact doesn’t negate the fact that they do have them. I brought my German Shepherd to a vet in the Philippines, and the bitch was poisoning the dog, to make a profit…THAT BITCH.It turned out that the dog was allergic to the food she was eating.The vet insisted that the dog had the mange and was injecting it with 3X’s/week Ivermectin to eradicate it.After a month of this, and no improvement in the dog, my dogs veins turned black her face swelled up and she almost died of blood poisoning because the bitch Dr. wanted to get paid, and that was all. This vet did not give one good fuck about my dog,THAT BITCH.My German Shepherd dog was nearly killed by the Veterinarians in that scumbag Fillipine city that just wanted to be paid. I HATE THOSE PEOPLE TO THIS DAY.
It was one of the reasons I had to leave the country.Every time I needed something done some scumbag would over-charge me by just making shit up, but when this C@#T Veterinarian(she could never practice outside the fils.)nearly killed my dog, just to be paid(and right after a POS LTO officer robbed me)I could stand no more and I left.The bitch would get sued in any other country or beaten to death, but it is common practice in that hell-hole country.
I feel bad for that Tyler dog and would recommend NEVER taking any dog,or creature that you love, to a vet in the fail-ippines…if they do not kill it accidentally, they’ll kill it to make a profit.
really sorry to hear about that man.
@ PF, yes, imagine how much you can love your dog and then find out that a vet is poisoning it purposely just to make some peso’s, Holy SHIT !!! I came close to acting out on that one. VERY close…..and I could have blamed it on the Abu Sayeff!!!!
As a caution, do you remember the name of the ‘bitch Dr.’?
Nice article. Remember what Gandhi said about treatment of animals and the progress of a nation? Any surprise really?
In case you are too lazy ‘The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.’
Imagine the treatment of fellow humans?
I think the story is about negligence in care/medical and not about treatment of animals.
Erm no, one and the same…
Dogs are people too…..
========
Dogs are animals first, then they are dogs. Lastly, they are Brownie, Blackie or Nicky. Or as others call it, ‘people’.
I don’t mind treating animals as humans, especially the man’s best friend. But oftentimes, issues on dogs arise because we treat them as humans and not as what they really are. And the treatment often is geared towards them being beautiful, cute, and adorable. End result, they end up becoming a spoiled child. They are pampered and treated like babies.
And since dogs are intelligent, this treatment tend to blur the lines in terms of boundaries. They often act as the pack leader instead of being in a pack.
Jameboy and the dog died because?
chen,
“Dogs are people too….”
And I said what?
Putting a Dog on leash on top of the table shows lack of common sense.
I have a dog also named: “Kimbo”…he entertains me after, a day’s hard work. I’m also learning from him…any living thing have emotion, even plants…Dogs have powerful sight, smell and hearing…I think, they can see thru the “particles of light”…
They have also a good “navigational memory”…they can find their way back easily, where they came from, anytime.
Nothing’s wrong in putting a dog on a leash on top of the table. What was wrong was leaving the dog there with nobody to look for it.
The Dog can just jump; and if you cannot catch it, if it is on leash…it will be asphyxiated. So, it is safe to put him on the floor…
Imagine if that employee who tended to Tyler was working in a hospital than a pet care establishment.
Malpractice suit for sure.
@ CF, Can they actually have a law suit in the Philippines ? A law suit that would actually make it to court and be heard and ruled on before the principles involved all died? The courts being notoriously SSS-LLL-OOOOOOOO-WWWWW there and all, it is one of the advantages of doing business there. From Ships to Airlines to Jeepney operators etc… the business’s do not do, in the transport industries for example,required maintenance and it doesn’t matter as no one ever gets a law-suit payout, NO?
Go anywhere in the Philippines and you will see dogs being kept in inhumane conditions. Stuck in tiny cages for their entire lives, they spend half the day crying in pain and suffering from being locked up and starved.
Go anywhere in the Philippines and you will see people being kept in inhumane conditions. Stuck in tiny squalor for their entire life….
Hmm… Let’s see. “Tyler was not allowed of the house because he would get dirty”. “He only looked forward to his strolls in his stroller”. Sounds like he’s in a much better place now. Maybe he was “rescued”? And for whatever it’s worth – you can’t “asphyxiate” and bark at the same time. Tyler “hanged” to death, was not “hung” – oh why am I even trying – grammar people. Grammar.
If you indeed treat your pets like people, just don’t leave them to the groomer. Find time to wait, regardless if you’re a suki customer. Would you leave your kids alone to the barber shop?
If you’ve known the barber for years and trust them, I guess you can leave your kid with them for a few minutes.
Poor Dog Spa Philippines. I hope the incident is isolated and does not reflect the entire personality of the business.
You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.
A friend who has been to that branch of Dog Spa Philippines said that the place was so small that it doesn’t take 5 seconds to walk from one end to another. I could not imagine how they could not have looked after the dog better when he was the only one they were attending to at that time.
I was also saddened when I first saw Tyler’s owner’s post on Facebook. This was pure negligence by Dog Spa Philippines. Every professional dog groomer knows this is dangerous and shouldn’t be done especially with no supervision.
Are they still operating? Hope not.