The San Francisco Examiner barks up the wrong tree with Fido -- my friend, my brother:
San Francisco supervisors are set to strike references to "dumb" animals and to replace references to pet "owner" with "owner/guardian" in the Health Code.Add another to the list of issues that roil this Great Republic.
The rhetorical change, said Rob Eshelman of Supervisor Matt Gonzalez's office, is "aimed at improving relationship between pet owners/guardians and their pets."
About a dozen speakers praised the proposal at the Board of Supervisors' Health and Human Services Committee meeting on Thursday.
The City's Animal Control and Welfare Commission proposed the change three years ago, to great outcry from breeders and pet owners who thought it would lead to alimony and health benefits for animals, Eshelman said.
Since then, the cities of Boulder, Colo., West Hollywood and Berkeley, among others, and the state of Rhode Island have made the linguistic leap without rolling down a slippery slope, Eshelman said.
"Changing the language is about recognizing the relationship," said Sherri Franklin, of the animal commission. She compared the leap to changes in the status of slaves and women.
