In Boulder, Colo., Animals Are People, Too

0 Comments | Insight on the News, July 31, 2000 | by Stephen Goode

We live in interesting times. For the people recently learned from culture commentator Michael Medved's updatesolutions. com, for example, that in an effort to improve the lot of domestic animals in the upscale community of Boulder, Colo., the city may remove all references to "pet owner" in municipal ordinances and replace them with "pet guardian," which Boulder authorities seem to think will cause an upsurge in empathy and compassion for Boulder's nonferal-animal population.

Animal advocates claim the change in wording will inspire (former) pet owners and (future) pet guardians to regard their charges as family members and treat them as they would a son or a daughter. No other aspect of Boulder animal law will change. (Guardians, for example, still will be required, like owners, to walk dogs on leashes and to feed and care for their pets.)

According to Jennifer Melten, an attorney for Rocky Mountain Animal Defense, "We're just trying to get them to look at a living being differently than they would a chair. Boulder is usually first with these things, and I'm happy we have some forward-thinking people."