8. Week. Reading Blog

Dogs Are People Too

Jane Evelyn Atwood/Contact Press Images

Autor, A.A Gregory Berns (October 5, 2013) - Opinion

Name of the Article: Dogs Are People Too.

Name of Magazine: New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/opinion/sunday/dogs-are-people-too.html?_r=3&pagewanted=all&) 

A week later, Pilar and Kathy meet again. They are with their dogs again
Pilar	Good morning, Kathy, How are you?
Kathy	Fine Pilar, Good morning!
Pilar	It’s cold today but it was necessary to walk with Kevin
Kathy	Yes, I know, I am walking to Ralphi also.
Pilar	I was thinking about last our conversation last week about dogs. You told me that we could continue talking about the New York Times article. What is the article’s name?
Kathy	The name is “Dogs Are People Too, by Bern, who I talked you aboutlast week.
Pilar	I would like to know more about this. Can you talk to me about this?
Kathy	Yes, I can. This scientist wrote a controversial article, and he says that the dogs should have the same rights as humans
Pilar	Did he find proofs in his experiments with M.R.I.?
Kathy	Yes, he did.
Pilar	How many dogs did he study to have this big deduction?
Kathy	He worked with dozens and dozens of volunteer dogs for about two years.
Pilar	What does “volunteer dogs” means?
Kathy	It means that the dogs can choose whether they want to do the test, because Bern is conscious that the dogs feel the same as humans.
Pilar	Why does he say that the dogs feel the same as us? Is difficult to say this because you can’t ask a dog why he does something and you can’t ask him how he feels.
Kathy	Yes this is true, all about animal sentience and emotions had been unanswerable until now, thanks the M.R.I s can tell us about dog’s internal states when the dogs are in their  natural state without an anesthetized animal and this is possible because the dogs are trying to keep absolutely still themselves during the procedure. From the beginning, the scientists treated the dogs as people. They had a consent form, which was modeled after a child’s consent form but signed by the dog’s owner. Then they emphasized that participation was voluntary, and that the dog had the right to quit the study. They used only positive training methods. No sedation. No restraints. If the dogs didn’t want to be in the M.R.I scanner, they could leave. Same as any human volunteer.
Pilar	I think that this is correct, because they also feel; I can to see with my dog Kevin. But tell me more about the results of this study.
Kathy	After months of training and some trial-and-error at the real M.R.I. scanner, they had the first maps of brain activity, and determined which parts of her brain distinguished the scents of familiar and unfamiliar dogs and humans. They are just beginning to answer basic questions about the canine brain; they cannot ignore the striking similarity between dogs and humans in both the structure and function of a key brain region: the caudate nucleus.
Pilar	What does “the caudate nucleus” means?
Kathy	Those are rich in dopamine receptors, the caudate sits between the brainstem and the cortex. In humans, the caudate plays a key role in the anticipation of things we enjoy, like food, love and money. In dogs, they found that activity in the caudate increased in response to hand signals indicating food. The caudate also activated the smells familiar humans. And in preliminary tests, it activated to the return of an owner who had momentarily stepped out of view.
Pilar	Do these findings prove that dogs love us?
Kathy	Not quite. But many of the same things that activate the human caudate, which are associated with positive emotions, also activate the dog caudate. The ability to experience positive emotions, like love and attachment, would mean that dogs have a level of sentience comparable to that of a human child. And this ability suggests a rethinking of how we treat dogs.
Pilar	I agree!, because dogs have long been considered property. Thought the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 solidified the view that animals are thing. Now, by using the M.R.I. we can no longer hide from the evidence!
Kathy	It’s true!, Dogs, and probably many other animals (especially our closest primate relatives), seem to have emotions just like us.
Pilar	If we went a step further and granted dogs rights of personhood, they would be afforded additional protection against exploitation. Puppy mills, laboratory dog racing would be banned for violating the basic right of self-determination of a person.
Kathy	They suspect that society is many years away from considering dogs as persons. Perhaps someday we may see a case arguing for a dog’s rights based on brain-imaging findings.
Pilar	Now, we can start caring for our dogs and all animals, because we cannot demonstrate scientifically why they love us, but we can feel their unconditional love for us.
Kathy	That’s right! We can defend their rights how innocent creatures and sensitize to all people that their care and love.
Pilar	Kathy it’s late for me.
Kathy	For me too, see you the next week. And don’t forget to care your dog!
Pilar	Sure! See you the next week

Revised and corrected