"Wildlife As Property Owners: A New Conception Of Animal Rights"

Ants set up home base. Butterflies chase rivals. Prairie dogs build family burrows. Your favorite cat is territorial. In effect, they claim certain property for themselves. That simple observation may lay the groundwork for protecting biodiversity even as climate change puts immense stress on ecosystems.

Karen Bradshaw, who graduated from Chico State in 2006, is now a Professor at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, and Senior Sustainability Scientist at the Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation. Her new book argues for "Wildlife As Property Owners: A New Conception Of Animal Rights" ($27.50 in paperback from the University of Chicago Press; also for Amazon Kindle).

At first glance the notion seems absurd. Do animals actually think of themselves as property owners? Bradshaw rightly leaves that question to scientists and philosophers; instead, she asks the more practical question: "Should people consider animals as potential property owners?" Her book makes the case that not only is this not absurd, property law already has resources that can get us to "yes."

In property law, non-human entities, like corporations, can own things. Trustees oversee the property claims of domestic animals who have inherited an estate as well as others who are unable to act on their own. 

Bradshaw's conception of animal property rights does not ascribe human rights to animals (a radical proposition) and broadens the scope of animal welfare laws to include entire biological ecosystems. Under her approach, "humans would retain the right to own pets, eat meat, or kill spiders."

Bradshaw sees many parallels in the animal kingdom to human property rights. "Property rights diminish the need to wake up each morning and fight to the death over where to eat and sleep.... The time and energy saved can be invested in other activities, such as catching prey or creating iPhones."

Communal rights develop among humans especially when resources are scarce, when no one individual can control the environment. It's the same in the animal world: "Lions always maintain territories with two watering holes" and so the pride must cooperate in their defense.

If Bradshaw's purpose is to convince a skeptic, she has succeeded.

"Divine Beings: The Spiritual Lives And Lessons Of Animals"

"When I was a kid," Chicoan Cara Gubbins writes on her website (caragubbins.com), "I dreamed of being Dr. Doolittle when I grew up. … In 2010, my dream came true when I started doing Animal Intuitive and Pet Medium Readings … bridging the communication gap between pets and people. …"

Her story is told in "Divine Beings: The Spiritual Lives And Lessons Of Animals" ($12.95 in paperback from CreateSpace; also for Amazon Kindle). In a conversational tone Gubbins describes her quest to reconcile her scientific training as a biologist (with a doctorate in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from the University of Nevada Reno) with her growing awareness of the spirituality of non-human animals.

Comparing notes with her friend Ellery, a nurse who "also happens to be a psychic that is able to talk to animals," they found when they each independently "talked to dozens of birds, insects, mammals and reptiles … asking our own questions of the animals or focusing in on our own intuitive information and awareness," there was almost complete agreement.

Ten chapters are devoted to spiritual messages shared by animals, from dogs and cats to a gray whale, snake, a bottlenose dolphin, and, perhaps most interestingly, a little brown bat. Gubbins asks the animals three questions: "What is your spiritual lesson? What is your spiritual gift? What message do you have for humans?" Each chapter presents biological information, how the animals have been portrayed in mythology, and, in some cases, a myth-busting message.

Babylonian mythology said "bats represented the souls of the dead." For bats, though, the story is about selfless "surrender to the group." "My personal message from the bats (my interpretation of their message to my own life) is to stop isolating myself, to share myself openly with friends, family and community."

The final chapter is on Gubbins' own message. "We are love," she writes. "We are all connected. We are one."

The author will have a booth at the Walk, Woof, Wag fundraiser for the Chico Animal Shelter Medical Fund, Saturday, September 16 at One Mile in Lower Park. She'll offer "intuitive pet readings" for a $10 donation to the fund.

Jane King: Remembering Frisky the fox

Though her family’s adventures with Frisky the fox took place years ago in Indiana, Jane King’s retelling sparkles with detail. Now living in Orland, King, an artist and retired math teacher, and a former trustee for the Chico Unified School District, enhances the memoir with dozens of her pencil sketches and a section of family photographs. It’s a treat for both kids and adults.

“A Fox In The Family” ($15.99 in paperback from Xlibris, also for Amazon Kindle) begins when “my husband, Jim, and I had moved to the country after our first son was born, and by the time our second son arrived, we knew where to find the great horned owl resting during the day … and lovely pink lady slippers just off the beaten path.”

“Two newspaper articles,” she writes, “had featured our family as the only people in town who fox-hunted on horseback and raised scrappy and unusual terriers that would go underground after all sorts of critters.”

Asked to help remove “a litter of foxes from an old barn that was being torn down,” the family eventually finds itself in possession of two gray fox pups. Soon Frisky and Friendly had the run of the house, to the delight of the two boys, Chris and Carter. “The foxes would hide under the trundle bed while the boys played with a conglomeration of toys on the floor. When a particular one took their fancy, the foxes would dash out, grab it either from the floor or from the boy’s hands, and scuttle back to the safety of the bed.”

There is sadness when Friendly succumbs to illness, yet much laughter and hubbub at Frisky’s foxy antics, and sadness again when the family moves and must leave Frisky behind. Up close and personal, it’s a wonderful tail.

King will be signing copies of her book at the Orland Art Center, 724 4th Street, from 3:00 - 7:00 p.m. October 3 and from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. October 4. She’ll also be signing copies at the Chico Library October 18 from 12:30 - 2:00 p.m.

Magalia couple goes to the dogs

If Alan and Kathi Hiatt thought retirement would be dull and boring, it’s clear they had nothing to worry about. Brought up in Chico and Gridley, the Hiatts have become “dog people,” adopting a trio of Basset Hounds (Winchester, Abby, and Lucy) and one white, 45-pound, long-haired Australian Shepherd mix with quite a story.

“Odd Otis: An Unusual Tail (Tale) About An Unusual Dog” ($7.99 in paperback from CreateSpace; also for Amazon Kindle) intertwines chapters written by Alan with far more sensible chapters written by Kathi (as Alan will attest), with a Q&A Section at the end (and more at oddotis.com.)

Alan was tooling up the Skyway in his old Jeep when he spotted the dog “crisscrossing the double yellow line in the middle of the road” near a busy intersection. Alan turned around and was able to scoop him up, and then it happened. “I will never forget the instantaneous warm and powerful jolt that swept through me when this dog wrapped all four legs around my middle, laid his head on my shoulder, and then literally body-melted into my chest.” Otis, it turned out, had been blind and deaf since birth.

“Otis followed Alan everywhere he went and was constantly begging for lap time,” Kathi writes; “Alan, on the other hand, couldn’t seem to be in the same room with Otis without petting or doting on him.” He was smitten. Kathi created a “lost dog” poster and Alan reluctantly put it up around town.

Days later, a woman named Tina, the rightful owner, contacted the couple. But then, seeing the incredible bond that had formed, she graciously agreed that Otis should belong to the Hiatt household.

What follows are tales of new relationships formed (with Kathi and the Bassets); tossed popcorn nights (“only do this when the wife’s not home”); and great Otis yawns (“it does give me the opportunity to check out his teeth”). Told with humor and down-home charm, it’s the on-going story of a special needs dog and an encouragement to others to consider adopting. “Through him,” Kathi writes, “we have reinvented ourselves.”

Paradise author on pets with special needs

Denise Gruzensky is a family nurse practitioner and now a children’s book author. “Not Like The Others: Harley’s Story” ($15.95 in paperback from LifeRich Publishing; also for Amazon Kindle) is subtitled “Having A Pet With Special Needs.” Gruzensky, who lives in Paradise with her husband Denton, lets Harley tell his own story. Replete with full-color photographs, the book is aimed at elementary-school kids.

“I was born in October 2004,” Harley says. “My first family couldn’t keep me so before I was 1 year old I was adopted.” The Yorkshire Terrier admits “I was scared at first, not knowing if I would get to stay, but I learned to love and trust the people who loved me.”  It’s evident from Denise’s smiles that she and Harley bonded deeply; then “the same month I turned 5 we moved to California.” Denise had roots there, and that was where Harley first met Denton.

When Harley was six “Denise started noticing I was drinking more water and having pee accidents. … She called the clinic and I went to see them. The doctors ran some tests and found out I had diabetes. The doctors gave Denise some special instructions for giving me my medicine, called insulin. It is given to me two times a day as a shot. I was scared again, not knowing if I would be sent away because I would be too much trouble with all of my problems. Maybe I would have to leave my home and the humans I love.”

But “Denise and Denton found out how to take care of me. They read and looked at the computer to learn about dogs and diabetes. My food and treats were changed to help my sugar levels but I still get to eat my baby carrots.”

The book introduces other animals with special needs. Otis is deaf; Hope has three legs; Abby has asthma. For Harley, “my life might have been very different if my humans had not decided to love me unconditionally, which means no matter what.”

No matter what.

Will there be a mouse in the house?

At the urging of his wife Deni Jo, Cliff Vinsonhaler is writing down some of the stories he's told over the years to his kids and grandkids. One might say that the Chico real estate broker has created some unreal estate in his fanciful tales of kids and animals, and if the first book in the planned series is any indication, readers will find continuing delight.

"Rodey" ($11.99 in paperback from Vinsonhaler Publishing, myrodey.com), available at Lyon Books in Chico, comes packed with full-color illustrations from the irrepressible Steve Ferchaud of Paradise. Vinsonhaler's stories, says his website, "most of which are still in his head, have no moral or hidden meaning. What they do depict is old fashioned fun and entertainment."

Rodey is a field mouse who "wanted to live in the grand two-story house where a little boy named Benjamin lived." Wouldn't you know it, though--there was no place for a mouse to get in. (We should all be so lucky.) So Rodey hatches a plan. He spots Ben's shoes lying in the grass and figures if he hides in one of the shoes he'll be carried inside when Ben's mom comes to retrieve them ("like she had always done before").

But the best-laid plans of mice and men.... Ben himself came out and put on his shoes. "Benjamin said, 'Mom, I think I need new shoes because one of them shrunk.' Well he didn't know it, but his mother was going to buy new shoes for him that very day."

The heart of the book is the meeting with Mrs. Lace, a rather matronly woman who had just started working at the shoe store. Ben tosses his shoes on the floor, and Rodey "fell out of the shoe, conked his head and passed out right onto Mrs. Lace's foot. She looked down at the mouse and screamed, and in the excitement flung her foot so high in the air ... that Rodey flew right over and onto the top of the store manager's head, Mr. Horn. Well, guess what? No one ever knew it, but Mr. Horn wore a toupee." Can you see where this is going?

The text and pictures will have kids laughing out loud. At least this kid did.

Paradise author tells the adventures of a street mutt

At the age of 78, J.T. Brown of Paradise has become an author. She writes me that her story--suitable for middle grades and up--is based on real life experiences but told from a dog's perspective. "My desire," Brown says, is "that young and old will be made aware of the heartache when one is abandoned whether as a puppy or a child."

"Torno" ($15.99 in paperback from Xlibris; also available in Amazon Kindle e-book for $7.69 and Barnes and Noble Nook book format for $7.99; available from www.tornobyjtbrown.com) is short for "tornado," a fast little pooch but not the handsomest of canines.

"Could someone out there like me?" he wonders. "Lookin' at the other mutts, I saw they were pretty good lookin'. I looked down at my reflection in my water bowl and took inventory. My feet looked too big. My legs were long and skinny. My white hair was more scraggly than ever. I had a black spot on my tongue, plus one ear stood up and the other hung down. I couldn't see much of my tail, but there was no doubt it was funny lookin'. Who would want a mutt like me for their very own?"

Torno is impounded and on the verge of being put down. No one seems to want an ugly dog and he wonders about his life's purpose. He pours his heart out to his "superior being" and is convinced he is watched over, cared for.

Then Tom arrives and Torno has a new master. An airline pilot, Tom takes the dog home to his family, but Torno soon realizes all is not well. Tom's marriage is crumbling and the children face an uncertain future. Torno tries to bring happiness to the household--he has a great personality--but soon Tom's wife leaves and it feels like love has left, too.

Eventually Tom moves on with his life, and one day, returning from a trip, finds a new neighbor has moved in. Tom decides to introduce himself, and Torno tags along: "The door opened and a lady stood there beside the most beautiful German shepherd I'd ever seen.... I was in love."

The conclusion is poignant, mingling love and loss. So it is with life.