Take Your Belongings and Go
by Baxter Black, DVM

Across the west this summer thousands of people heard the words, "Take your belongings and go." Drought, lightning, careless humans, arsonists and long-standing unnatural conservation policies combined to create a living inferno of our nation's forests and grasslands.

None of which would have mattered much in the grand scheme of things except that man, a recent newcomer to the planet, has begun to amass possessions. They, these `belongings', distinguish us from the lower beasts. As the billowing thunderous fires inhaled and exploded, threatening houses, cabins, towns and TV towers with immolation, inhabitants in the crosshairs were told to evacuate. Some had a day's warning, some had a few minutes. "Take your belongings," they were told, "and leave."

It is a credit to Homo sapians that the first `belonging' most evacuees took, after their families were safe was their pet. Not the entertainment center, the table saw, the sofa, the swamp cooler, the silverware or the $300 Stetson hat. At the top of the list was Sparky or Miss Kitty. Mongrels with no pedigree, bad habits and a $300 vet bill.

And lest we forget, Fury, Dunny and Bossy were led, ridden or hauled out of harm's way before any thought was given to the gun collection, the Frederick Remington print or the trophy saddle in the tack room.

Why do domestic animals rate so high among our possessions? They are surely not more valuable, in dollars and cents. I think we value them differently than inanimate possessions. The word `love' keeps creeping into the back of my pencil. But love is not quite right. Responsibility is much closer.

It is long standing, this relationship. Genesis says God gave man dominion over the fish, the fowl, the cattle and every creeping thing over all the earth. Dominion is defined as power over, authority, possession, rule and control. God could have said joint custody, equality, visitation rights, mutual exclusivity or time sharing...but He didn't.

But dominion implies a reciprocal dependence. It is bone deep in our instinct, caring for the flock. It is deeper than love of the land, the house, the car and even the bass boat.

In the face of this summer's fires, "get the animals out first" seemed to be our first thought. In a world where so much emphasis is placed on material possessions, our relationship with our animals turns out to be one of our most redeeming features.

It makes us almost human.