About 10 years ago, I took my Labs Julius and Stanley for a walk and swim along the Battenkill River. It was a foolish walk, it had been pouring for days and I wanted the dogs to get some exercise before a long drive. I didn’t pay attention to the swollen waters and I was horrified to see Julius, an aging Yellow Lab caught in a powerful current, being pulled out into the waters. It was cold out, but I plunged in and almost immediately my legs were tangled in some thick roots and vegetation that was not visible. It took a long time to free myself and I nearly didn’t.  I managed to grab Julius’s tail and then get both of us out and I heard sirens coming down the road. Someone had spotted the struggle and called the police. Mortified and freezing I piled the dogs into the car and fled. When I got home I looked at my daughter and asked myself this question: was any dog worth putting her through the loss of her father.

I thought of this story again when someone sent me a news story about a San Francisco family that drowned trying to save their dog. A boy went into the ocean to save his drowning dog. The father and mother followed. His sister, who stayed onshore,  is the only survivor. I posted a message on my Facebook Page asking people if they would go into a dangerous sea to save their dogs. I got hundreds of comments almost immediately. Most people were very quick to answer, saying yes, of course, no question. Some wondered if they would subject their spouses or children to that kind of loss, of if the life of their dog was equal to theirs. I wonder if I have the strength to watch Lenore or Red or Frieda drown and stay on the shore. Or if I would pause for a moment and wonder if dog and human lives are really equivalent.

One woman posted a message saying her dog was her child and she would try and save her without hesitation. Another said she didn’t know what she would do, but she hoped she would think about it before she plunged in. She wondered about the sister of that San Francisco family.

Me too. It is not an answerable question really, but a mesmerizing one in so many ways. It speaks to the places animals like dogs occupy in our lives, to the changes in perspective we have seen about the importance of pets to us, and the ways in which dogs and cats and other pets are mirrors are where we are heading as a society. Is a dog’s life equal to ours? Some said it was more important, others disagreed. It is a telling reflection of our times that it would even be a discussion. Check out the comments if you can. One of the most interesting threads I have seen in awhile.