Bucky Buckerman

The other day I was showing my Lad Lake students a PowerPoint on animal emotions and I started out talking about humane emotions and facial expressions. I showed the Dr. Paul Ekman photos depicting universal facial expressins for different emotons.

As I started to move on to talk about animal emotions one of the boys raised his hand and with a big smile asked; "Can we call the one on the bottom in the middle 'Bucky Buckerman'?"

I attempted to use his inappropriate attempt at humor to instill some empathy. "That's not very nice to make fun of his appearance," I said. "He can't help how he looks."

"Yes he can," the boy replied, "he can get braces."

"Maybe he can't afford braces, or maybe there's another reason he can't get them," I said.

At that point one of the other boys asked when these photos were taken, and I said I thought maybe the late 60s or early 70s. "Oh, no. You're right," he said. "Back then they couldn't have afforded it."

I'm not sure if they got the message I was trying to send, but I was amused.

March Madness in WI

This has been the weirdest Wisconsin weather in March I can ever remember. I've lived here my entire life and I never thought that I'd have the windows open, be comfortable wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and be too warm hiking in the middle of March unless I were to move somewhere south.

I think the weather this month has taken a lot of people by surprise, and many haven't adjusted quite yet to thinking in terms of summer.

Yesterday I went grocery shopping and as I was loading groceries into my car I heard a dog barking. As I always do, I looked around to see where the barking was coming from. I was horrified when I located the vehicle the next aisle over and saw that the windows were barely cracked. It was 75 degrees out, not a cloud in the sky, and the SUV was a dark blue color. It was the kind of situation that could kill a dog if left enclosed too long.

I went to the customer service desk of the store and reported the situation. They paged the owner of the vehicle, and I went back out to see if anyone came to get the dog out of it's automotive oven. 5 minutes later the dog was still in the car, and the owner wasn't in sight. So I called the police. The dispatcher promised to send an officer over.

It took 15 minutes for the officer to arrive. He took down the plate number, and the VIN number and asked me a few questions, and then told me I could leave. By the time I left the parking lot it had been a half an hour and the owners still hadn't shown up. The police officer was still by the SUV when I left, and I'm not sure what happened after that.

I have no doubt the owners loved their little dog. It appeared to be well groomed, and they thought enough to want to give it a car ride. But they weren't thinking about the fact that in 75 degree weather an enclosed car can quickly reach 100 degrees. And I'm sure they didn't consider that once they completed their shopping they may have returned to find a dead dog.

It might be March, but with the temperatures behaving as though it's June we need to think summer and how that impacts our pets.

Listening Goes Both Ways

When I first started out in humane education I always worried about what kind of a lesson or activity I could prepare for the groups of kids I interacted with. My assumption was that what I presented to the kids was the most important part of my visit since they'd be learning something about the treatment of animals.

I've since come to realize that the lesson is only one part of what the kids get out of my visits. Most of my visits include an animal guest. I usually do the activity with the kids first since once the animal is out they really don't have any interest in interacting with me -- and who can blame them!

Once the animal comes out I stop talking as much and the kids take that opportunity to talk to me. I hear about animals they have at home, and animals they've met at the homes of relatives. Some kids have stories about wild animals they've encountered -- some they've rescued by bringing to HAWS. Occasionally I'll hear stories about animal abuse the kids have witnessed -- either by other kids, or worse, from adults in their lives.

I've come to realize that listening on my end is just as important as wanting the kids to listen to me. Kids are desperate to be heard and be made to feel that their thoughts and comments are important. Expressing their experiences and feelings are an important part of the learning process, and making them feel as though their conversation about animals is being heard will have a huge impact on how they regard animals in the future.

All in a Days Work at HAWS

As much as I love my job as a Humane Educator, I sometimes miss out on some of the more exciting things that other HAWS staff members get to experience. We have staff who are trained for road calls -- rescuing wild or domestic animals. They come back with all sorts of interesting stories.

HAWS staff are always encouraged to take a lot of photographs of things that go on from day to day at HAWS. It helps our public relations department promote the many things HAWS does for Waukesha County -- photos really help bring stories to life.

Yesterday our Operations Director -- Mark Hess, asked if I had some time to accompany him on a road call to save a cat. Mark thought it might be a great photo-op, but knew he wouldn't be able to take photos while he worked to get the cat. Since I had a bit of extra time I was thrilled to have an opportunity to go out on an adventure to rescue an animal in distress.

The cat was trapped on an over-hang a few stories up on the municipal parking lot in the City of Waukesha County. The way the roof was designed it appeared that the cat jumped down from the parking lot, but wasn't able to get back up. Reports indicated that it had been on the room for at least 3 days, and the concern was that the cat was out in cold weather without access to food or water.

Mark wasn't sure what he'd need since it wasn't known if the cat was some one's lost pet, or a feral kitty. Either way -- it was sure to be frighted, and most likely wouldn't be amenable to someone walking up to him. Mark was prepared to use a tranquilizer dart if needed, but decided to start with a net.

I shot a steady stream of photos as Mark used a ladder to get onto the same level of the roof as the cat. The cat ran past Mark several times, but Mark's been doing this for many years, and knows his way around using a net to scoop up a running, frightened animal. Mark anticipated where the cat would go next, and lowered the net right in front of the cat's path easily scooping him up.

The cat was brought back to HAWS and scanned for a micro-chip -- which he did have. The owner was contacted and came right away to pick up her missing buddy. A better ending couldn't have been expected!

While this story isn't as thrilling as many shown on TV, it's an example of activities that HAWS staff engage in on a daily basis. And it's a great testament to the power of micro-chipping pets -- the micro-chip allowed HAWS to figure out who the owner was and prevent the cat from being further traumatized with a stay in a cage in the shelter.

Anthropomorphism

"The attribution of a human form or behavior to an animal."

Generally animal professionals will discourage people from being anthropomorphic about their pets since it doesn't allow humans to recognize that animals have very different needs, behaviors and responses to situations than humans. Anthropomorphism can cause people to call a cat lazy because he sleeps up to 18 hours a day. While 18 hours of sleeping each day is excessive for a human, it's quite normal for a cat.

Anthropomorphism can even be dangerous -- we humans show affection and love through wrapping our arms around the backs or neck of another and holding them close. This is what we call a hug. However dogs don't interpret this action the same way we do. A dog who puts his chin or paw over the shoulder or back of another dog is displaying status seeking behavior. When we hug dogs they don't interpret it as affection -- but either as our attempt to show our status, or as a way for us to restrain them.

Most dogs do not like to be hugged, but will tolerate it from the people they live with. Many will even tolerate it from those they've just met. Regardless, it's not a good idea to hug a dog that doesn't belong to you. Not only is it a good way to get bit in the face from a dog who doesn't want to tolerate hugging from someone they don't know well, but it's disrespectful to the dog as well. After all -- you wouldn't think it was polite if a stranger came running up to you in the street and threw their arms around your neck, would you?

In some cases anthropomorphism can be a good thing, however. The last sentence of my last paragraph is a good example of this -- comparing your own discomfort, fear or anger at having a stranger approach and hug you to what a dog may be feeling in the same circumstance can be useful in helping people relate to and feel empathy for their animals.

Recently a morning news anchor in KUSA-TV in Denver was interviewing the owner of a dog who had been rescued from an icy river the day before. The dog was also present in the studio. I've embedded video of that encounter below -- but full disclosure before you watch it -- the news anchor does get bit by the dog at the end and it may be disturbing.

The day before the interview the dog experienced a traumatic event. The next morning he was taken to a television studio and waited for 45 minutes to an hour -- during which time he was in an unfamiliar environment filled with equipment he'd most likely never seen before, and approached by strangers.

Then he was taken onto a news set with harsh lighting and cameras pointed at him. A woman he didn't know got in his space and rapidly ran her hands back and forth repeatedly, while his owner held on to his collar so he couldn't get away from her had he wanted to. At the end, this complete stranger moved towards his face with her mouth (trying to kiss him). This is the point where she was bit.

Anthropomorphism is useful in this situation. How many of us are at our best and are at our most tolerant during times of stress? The opposite is more likely -- when stressed we need extra space and the last thing we need is for additional stressful situations. This dog, had he been asked and been able to answer, most likely would have preferred to stay at home that morning, rather than go on a news show.

Removing the anthropomorphism again, I'd like you to take note of a few things that went on during the video footage -- should you choose to watch it, as I think it's helpful for non-dog professionals to be able to be able to see some of the non-verbal communication signals that dogs use to communicate stress. The dog was frequently flicking his tongue, was panting heavily, at one point (at about 11 seconds) his mouth closes and he freezes for a split second, and he turns his head away from her (about 18 seconds). These are all warning signs that the dog is uncomfortable and stressed. Right before the bite -- as she moves her face into his he freezes again for a split second before he bites her.

While this is a horrible situation and the news woman was badly injured by it (she required plastic surgery to repair her torn lip), I think it helps to remind us that dogs are animals and we need to not make assumptions about how we interact with them.

PETS Project Graduation

Back in December I posted about the difficulties I was having with my current semester of Lad Lake students. The PETS program is designed to have boys from the school for at-risk kids learn about and train shelter dogs with the goal of instilling empathy, teamwork, patience and inspire them to be interested in learning.

The first semester of the school year just ended and I'm pleased at how things really turned around for the program. The boys became very excited to work with the dogs and train them to do new things, and I saw many of the boys become more respectful both towards myself and the other students, and they were enthusiastic about the learning portion of the program.

The last day of the semester the boys gave me notes they'd put together thanking me for allowing them to particpate in the program. One of the boys was grateful that he'd learned about puppy mills and promised never to get a dog from one. One complimented me on being a great trainer and teacher. Another drew pictures of myself and my dog. Getting thanks from the kids I work with really makes my job worthwhile, and I always hope that I've made an impact even in a small way on their lives.

One of the gifts I give to the boys on completion of the semester is a video that I put together from footage shot over the course of the semester of their work with the dogs. The latest video is below.

Winter Camp and Humane Treatment

HAWS Winter Camp ran last week when the kids had a break from school. One of the goals of our education program is to help children develop empathy for all living things. We do this through introducing the concept of caring about the needs of animals and thinking about how people's actions might effect an animal's well-being.

Two of the boys attending were high-functioning autistic and therefore behaved different than the other children. I worried that the other kids in the group would notice this difference and tease them, or at the very least not be tolerant of them.

I didn't need to worry, since all the kids made me very proud. Not only were they tolerant of the two boys, but they went out of their way to be considerate of them and reached out to make sure they were included in every way. I observed kids moving over to make room for the two boys with autism, asking them if they wanted to join in activities when the boys were off to the side, and making sure the boys had extra opportunities to engage with the animals we had out.

Was this a result of our programming? It's hard to say -- most of the kids have been through HAWS camps or other educational programs in the past. I'd like to take at least partial credit for it, but I'd also like to think that our world is becoming more accepting of people who aren't like us.