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Bridging the Bond.Qxp 9/27/02 12:23 PM Page I Bridging the Bond.qxp 9/27/02 12:23 PM Page i BRIDGING THE BOND Bridging the Bond.qxp 9/27/02 12:23 PM Page ii Bridging the Bond.qxp 9/27/02 12:23 PM Page iii Bridging the Bond The Cultural Construction of the Shelter Pet TAMI L. HARBOLT Purdue University Press West Lafayette, Indiana Bridging the Bond.qxp 9/27/02 12:23 PM Page iv Copyright 2003 by Purdue University. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Harbolt, Tami L., 1969- Bridging the bond : the cultural construction of the shelter pet / Tami L. Harbolt. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-55753-260-5 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Animal welfare. 2. Animal shelters. 3. Pets. I. Title. HV4708 .H373 2002 636.08 l 32—dc21 2002012969 Bridging the Bond.qxp 9/27/02 12:23 PM Page v “In a sense, committed writers are the ones who write both to awaken to the consciousness of their guilt and to give their readers a guilty conscience.” —TRINH T. MINH-HA, WOMAN, NATIVE, OTHER, 10 Bridging the Bond.qxp 9/27/02 12:23 PM Page vi Bridging the Bond.qxp 9/27/02 12:23 PM Page vii ContentsContents Foreword ix Acknowledgments xi Chapter One Camille’s Story 1 Chapter Two The Cultural Construction of the American Pet 25 Chapter Three Animal Welfare in Albuquerque, New Mexico: 1947–Present 41 Chapter Four “This One Mattered to Me…” 73 Chapter Five Bridging the Bond 103 Notes 141 References 143 Index 151 Bridging the Bond.qxp 9/27/02 12:23 PM Page viii Bridging the Bond.qxp 9/27/02 12:23 PM Page ix Foreword We humans are not only a social species, but also a nurturing and caring col- lective. We rescue not only people in need, but land in need of protection and the wildlife within it. The first organized society to protect urban animals dates back to 1866. This organization, New York’s American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) originally focused on protecting urban horses, and the workers were almost exclusively male. In 1869, women concerned for household pets established the Women’s SPCA of Pennsylvania, the first shelter for city dogs and cats. Today, urban humane societies handle mostly dogs and cats. Society in general is ambivalent towards its humane societies and animals shelters. On the one hand, society often holds shelter workers in contempt for catching and often killing unwanted pet animals; and on the other hand, we do not actively support social policies that would deem these activities unnecessary. While shelter personnel are considered almost saintly for their selfless dedication, they do not get the financial or moral support they deserve. They are often ridiculed and receive very low pay for strenuous and, at times, dangerous work. The activities of the animal shel- ter are often shrouded in secrecy, in part because the workers may feel unwelcome and in part because we do not really want to know what goes on in an animal shelter. Tami Harbolt studied the life of the animal shelter worker not just as a student of folklore, but also as a full-time shelter employee, where she worked her way through the ranks. Harbolt combines her personal memoirs with interviews and astute observations of the shelter culture. We learn to appreciate the shelter employee, volunteer, educator, activist, and even pet. Rarely do people understand one of society’s must elusive activi- ties, the animal shelter. But shelters are part of our lives and we should understand them. Tami Harbolt’s story is both informative and personal. It takes us through her journey with her own canine and human compan- ions as she navigates a life trying to balance protecting animals and soci- ety. She helps us understand a life that tries to treat animals humanely in a world that is sometimes anything but. —Alan M. Beck Dorothy N. McAllister Professor of Animal Ecology, Purdue University ix Bridging the Bond.qxp 9/27/02 12:23 PM Page x Bridging the Bond.qxp 9/27/02 12:23 PM Page xi Acknowledgments This narrative is because of Camille, and therefore is written as a dedication to those qualities that characterized our bond—a desire for mutual protection, unconditional love and completion. In addition, I would like to thank the fol- lowing people for donating time, energy, and support to this project. Obviously, I need to thank all of the animals, employees, and volunteers of the various shelters and rescue organizations in New Mexico and Kentucky who contributed to this project. Some of them are named in this book, but far more have come and gone and may have thought no one noticed the small acts of kindness, and sometimes callousness, that they performed in my presence. Most of all, I want to thank the thousands and thousands of ani- mals I have met who will also remain nameless in this book. So many of them were so important to someone, and many of them were important to no one. For me, I was only happy to give them a hug, a fresh bowl of water, or a treat at the end of the day. There were so many over the course of five years. There are quite a few young people growing to be future providers—my wonderful Camp, YDDC, and JHA kids—you have been good friends and I hope your paths are always full of triumph and wagging tails. You kept me laughing and made me proud. Tamara Ward, Kim and Chris at Three Dog Bakery—keep up the good work you do. Thanks for making my last year in New Mexico worth a good laugh. For enthusiasm, guidance, and support, thanks go to Ruth Salvaggio, M. Jane Young, Vera Norwood, and Alan Beck. Without your support of this research, I would not be here writing this now. Without the words—verbal or written—each of you has contributed, I would not have found the courage to pursue a study of animals. I truly appreciate your good humor, knowledge, and stories. Minrose and Ruth—thanks for giv- ing me access to the flavor of southern comfort every now and then and for inspiring me to follow my heritage and be a Southern writer. For encouraging me to pursue this research long before I knew where it would take me, thanks to Erika Brady, Lynwood Montell, Jay Mechling, Stanley Costello, Marty Vowels, Terry Barrett, Joel Royalty, and Ken Carstens. Dale Leys—I didn’t change what I drew, I just changed how I drew it. Marty—who knew those stories in the eighth grade would lead to this? With the greatest admiration, Stanley—you were the best teacher I have ever known, and I only hope I can begin to approach your ability to make history a storyteller’s canvas. xi Bridging the Bond.qxp 9/27/02 12:23 PM Page xii Although this work has kept me away for far too long, I owe my family appreciation for allowing me to forge my own path and for letting me know I can always come back home. I can’t wait to be a real aunt to the babies—Rachel, Tyler, Marco, Carly, Laura, and Scott. Dad—you are you and I am me and I love you. Mom, thanks for confirming my destiny by playing records late at night and teaching me your decorating style. Paw-paw and Mom-mom—thanks for the gift certificates to Cracker Barrel. Michelle and Brooks, Linda and Todd, Rick, Aunt Dot and Uncle Morrie, Valerie—thanks for being wonderful, intelligent role models. Becky, thanks for Danny. Amy and Sara—once again, I am very proud of you both. Shelly—you are my chosen sister, time after time. Special thanks to the friends and peers from Western, Murray, and University of New Mexico for letting me chew your ears about these dis- coveries and for offering an outsider’s viewpoint on many of these aca- demic and practical issues. Those of you who gladly braved the fur and wet noses at our house, I hope you realize how happy we all were to see you! Thanks to Paul Malin for helping me live with Murphy a little longer. Dave—you are a hell’a good friend—fried chicken anytime. Debbie—glad we made it. Ila and Mark—don’t pin the funk on me, but in the meantime, keep dancing and kicking ass (WWXD?). Lane—thanks for those cocktails. Becca—my health buddy, thanks for those ambulance rides in the Volvo. Jane—good folks are hard to find—glad we found each other in Room 313 Ortega Hall. Anna and Chris—keep on trekking. I couldn’t have completed this without constant reminders and interruptions from Tony, Archie, Curtis, Murphy, Pearl, and Drew. And finally, to my dearest friend and the other mother to all my animals, thanks to Rutledge. The lives of many animals were drawn into our story. Their futures were surely helped along by full bellies, amoxicillin, and pre- mature housebreaking. I have treasured every moment we shared, just as I have treasured every life we saved together. Though we lost a few of them (sweet Carmen, Kismet, little Beatrice), hopefully most of them, like Dale, will get to see a ripe old age. And in my old age, I will remember these years as some of the best I have known. Keep in mind, the hounds of love are always hunting.
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