If you wouldn’t cage your child, you shouldn’t cage your dog.
That’s the message PETA is spreading in the Vancouver area just days after a local couple was arrested for allegedly keeping their two young autistic sons in a dark, caged room.
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is negotiating with outdoor advertisers in the Vancouver area to display billboards featuring a dog in a crate with the caption, “No one belongs in a crate. Imagine how you’d feel.”
The number, location and size of the billboards, as well as how soon the billboards might start popping up, all remain undetermined, said Ashley Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for PETA.
PETA decided to pursue the billboards in the area after news of the Vancouver couple’s arrests broke on Wednesday.
“Responsible parents wouldn’t dream of caging their children, and responsible animal guardians wouldn’t crate their animals,” Gonzalez said. “We want to make that connection.”
When isolated for long periods of time, dogs, like children, become antisocial, aggressive, withdrawn, hyperactive and depressed and can develop eating disorders, Gonzalez said.
“Dogs — like children — are highly social beings who need love, attention, exercise, and social interaction in order to mature normally, and forcing dogs to spend long hours in a crate deprives them of these basic necessities,” PETA vice president Daphna Nachminovitch said in a news release.
Other alternatives
More and more people are confining dogs in crates while at work. Confining dogs all day for human convenience is not acceptable, Gonzalez said.
Instead, she said, pet owners should hire a pet service, solicit a friend to take the dog on a walk or provide a doggie door into a secure, fenced yard. Getting a companion animal also helps, Gonzalez said.
The use of crates for potty training dogs is counterproductive, she said. Puppies don’t develop full bladder control until they reach 6 months old, so they are physically incapable of waiting to urinate, Gonzalez said.
PETA isn’t opposed to the use of crates if a veterinarian recommends their use for rest or if crates are needed to keep pets safe when traveling, she said.
“But just for convenience, it’s just unacceptable,” Gonzalez said.
The parents arrested, John Eckhart and Alayna Higdon, remained in Clark County Jail on Thursday afternoon on suspicion of second-degree criminal mistreatment and unlawful imprisonment.
Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.
